I Have the Right to Destroy
by Brain Eater Jr
Summary: AU: In which L challenges Kira, and Kira is not Light Yagami. Matt, Mello, and Near are the only suspects in this Kira case. Finale!
1. 01: Confrontation

**I Have the Right to Destroy**

_01: Confrontation_

_(L)_

Do you know who Kira is?

"Kira" is the word used to identify the one responsible for a very strange thing happening to many nations in the world: criminal death by heart attack. Among the many experts existing in the world, not one of them can give an explanation as to how this can be done by a human being, or even an efficient group of human beings.

(Heck, even _I _can't explain how this could happen. That will change soon, hopefully.)

People have differing opinions of who or what Kira is. Supporters of this person call Kira a god. A blessing. An angel of justice who will save human society from evil. It is easy to think of Kira this way. After all, after his movements are determined by the world, it seemed to become a quieter place. Crime rates lessened dramatically. Populations decreased, and everybody became more conscious of rules and laws. Kira also affected the people personally: there are those families with weights lifted off their shoulders after seeing the people who ruined their lives fall to the ground with their hearts stopped.

In his world, where there is death, a new life begins.

For others, Kira is a curse, a virus, or else a disease. From the very word itself, _Kira—_a Japanization of the word _Killer_. No matter how you look at it, the Killer is a murderer, a serial killer with malicious intentions towards his fellow human beings. How real are his 'achievements,' anyway? Crime rates have nothing to do with it. Rules are being followed out of fear. People use his name to scare each other: _do this to me and I will ask Lord Kira to kill you._

In his world, where there is silence, there is disorder.

Therefore, Kira must be stopped.

* * *

On the onset, I was interested in the case for two reasons, both of them selfish. First of course was the fact that it was the hardest puzzle in the world to solve. Second, many governments will pay me huge sums of money if I got rid of the person. Considering the power held by Kira, many of them were afraid that this person will take over.

(Ah, but they don't understand. Kira is already taking over the minds of human beings, more than they ever did. Their fear proves it.)

Needless to say, back then, I was not concerned in setting Kira straight. All I wanted to do was to solve the puzzle. Nothing wrong in pursuing a hobby.

The first thing to do was to pinpoint Kira's location. The very first victims were scattered among three nations: Japan, United States, and the United Kingdom. The times were different, of course, given the time zone differences, but one thing was clear:

It seemed that the very first victim of a heart attack death was a first-time rapist from London. The times were close: he died a mere _twelve seconds before the Shinjuku killer. _Before his death, the name and face of the criminal were cited on local newspapers and on a few Internet articles.

Upon confirming this fact, it was logical to think that Kira was most probably from an English-speaking nation. However, among the three nations involved, two of them had English as their national language. Given that I wasn't moving with a hundred percent conviction, it was a leap of faith for me to assume that the United Kingdom was the home base of Kira, and even more of a leap of faith to choose England and disregard Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Using a notorious, but not well-known American criminal by the name of Lind L. Tailor, a so-called World Wide TV Broadcast of L's challenge to Kira was aired on all of England's television sets.

As many of you would guess, it was a success—Kira took the bait. Lind L. Tailor, a serial killer from Texas already on the death row for his crimes, died approximately two minutes after he appeared on air.

After that, it was the true L's turn to make his entrance.

"Kira, among the many nations of the world, you are located within the United Kingdom. Moreover, you are currently in England." Normally, I would not be satisfied with such a proclamation because England is a big place with many suspects. It would still be a challenge to pinpoint his or her exact location, and considering that the person can freely leave the country without suspicion, the situation gets trickier.

But this information would do for now. It was actually more than enough for ICPO, who were desperate for any sort of clue.

"Go on, try and kill me!" This proves it. He needed a name and face to kill off criminals. Unabashedly, I mentioned this in my challenge. I could feel his disappointment as my scrambled voice rang out mockingly for all of England to hear. And why not? Lind L. Tailor's death was a blunder. And the public now knows how to avoid death by Kira.

I was genuinely glad at that moment—for the first time, Kira was outsmarted. He had two options after that: to run away and quit the killings, or to accept my challenge and set the stage for the chase. Even though it must be selfish of me to say so, I wished he would choose the second option, for one reason only:

_I must know how he kills._

_I have to solve the puzzle._

And as expected of a cunning man, Kira accepted my challenge.

But after I learned of his decision, I almost regretted ever issuing my challenge in such a manner.

Because five minutes after L's Challenge to Kira was aired, my honourable assistant and teacher Watari dropped dead on his station.

The cause of death was a heart attack.

* * *

Death is the moment where the human being ceases to be. From a breathing creature with a rational mind, he turns into a thing, and nothing else other than a thing. This is an inescapable truth in human societies.

In my profession, it is not surprising to see death on ordinary days. It is a malevolent wish, but humans wish for others to 'cease to be' before their times are up. Some would say that this wish for destruction—destruction of others, or even self-destruction—means that there exists in humans an inescapable, inherent evil.

This evil, it is why there are such things as 'criminals'. As humans, we inherently know that we have to avoid it. Besides self-preservation, is there another reason for avoiding evil?

This evil—this is the same evil that killed thousands of criminals in the past few months. This is what made ordinary people rely on a force called Kira to solve all their problems.

This evil killed Quillsh Whammy. Sadly, this evil revealed a hideous truth to me:

Kira is one of the children who is going to be L someday.

…

I never cared much about philosophical debates regarding good and evil. Before, getting rid of evil was never my motivation to become a detective. Solving difficult puzzles was my only reason.

After Kira answered my challenge, I understood why evil must be avoided.

I thought of Kira, whoever he may be. Three young men, sitting in a circle. Three scenes: a young blond boy uttering a curse and sending a man to the grave; a small, white figure pointing his small, child's finger towards a man, frothing at the mouth from a heart attack; a young boy in goggles, pressing a magic button that swept the nation free of hardened criminals.

One by one, they stare at me. Wide eyes, closing and opening. Mouths like gasping goldfish, saying words that I will never understand.

_L…_

Kira left me alive, healthy. But all data is deleted. Nothing else is left but me and my writhing stomach.

An abnormal thing was happening to the world.

And I wished to get to the bottom of it.

_Note: Ack! That's a major change from the first thing I uploaded here. That's because I re-read the entire thing, and I found it wordy and hard to read. Sorry about that :D I decided to just go with Kira because it makes things simpler. I hope this one is improved from the previous version._


	2. 02: Rebirth

**I Have the Right to Destroy **

_Chapter 2: Rebirth_

_(The Killer) _

If there's one thing I've learned in Whammy's House, is that your true name only has value because people can use it to destroy you. Think of how much damage a DNA sample in the wrong place can cause a perfectly apt criminal, or how your family name preceded and all your achievements. Your name is a weapon, or else an unnecessary label. Therefore, there is no use of keeping it.

If you only go by a symbol—a penname, a Jack of Spades, a straw doll, a singular letter like _L_—then you are excused to do all the notorious things you want. That is how the greatest criminals in the world operate. They make the world lose their identities. They keep their true selves to themselves. In that way, their lack of identity becomes a weapon against the world—without a name, all is allowed.

They even made themselves safe from me. The Killer. The most powerful human being on the face of the earth today.

I know the power of names and the power of appearances. Thus, I have to hide behind this ridiculous alias—_Kira,_ the Japanization of the word, _Killer. _One of the first nicknames given by the shiny-eyed humans who was saved by my power.That was how L and the idiot Tailor addressed me in the broadcast, wasn't it?

But before that, I already hid behind a false name. I am, after all, a resident of Whammy's House. Everyone here prided themselves with anonymity as much as they did with their intellect. So, who am I among those who dream of becoming the next L?

I am recognized as one of the smartest among the fifty children in Whammy's House—one of the top three, to be more specific. There is no need for you to know which one, absolutely no point. You don't deserve to know since you don't know what it's like to have the number hanging over your head, after all.

The numbers barely mattered to the other children. It's always a popular debate amongst them: who, _really, _is the smartest among the top three?

Even then, for the three of us, the numbers always mattered. Not because of the prestige attached to them, but because it was L himself who assigned the rankings.

Yes, L. A nameless, faceless character. Nevertheless, the person loved by all the children in the orphanage—including me, I have to admit.

The person whose death will become my greatest victory.

* * *

How I gained my power to kill people with heart attacks is, surprisingly, not very impressive. 

It happened during Physical Education. We were given exercises on how to use maps and compasses. So the activity for the day was a treasure hunt, of some sorts. Individual maps, individual paths. A race with some form of reward at the end. A fun activity for many of the children—everyone was talking about it the day before.

I am _not _a fan of the great outdoors. The whole thing was worthless, in my opinion. However, I had no choice. I was led to one of the woodsy areas of the enormous backyards of Whammy's House. And this is where I found it:

Lying on some grass and mossy earth was a black notebook. On its cover was shiny, metallic ink, with curious handwriting: _Death Note._

_  
_If you consider my personality, it was unlikely that I'd pick up the notebook when I was busy with the race. Some of the other children must have brought the notebook with them in the race, and must have dropped it there. I certainly wouldn't be bothered picking up the notebook for whoever lost it.

But something inside me told me that it was… _unnatural. _"It should be taken away from this place… hey, it's perfect for you. Don't show it to anyone else. Keep it, open it, and do what you will with it."

And so…

Ignoring the mess of children around me, I picked up the Death Note.

* * *

_Death Note. _It had an… _interesting_ ring to it. I had a suspicion that it was a suicide note of some kind, or at least a record of suicidal thoughts.

One idea that came to mind when I stared at the cover was A—could he had been the owner of this notebook? Then, it would be something that I wanted to study on my own first, without the other kids rubbernecking while I read it.

However, if it turned out that the person who owned it was still alive and was a resident of the orphanage, then it would not be a good idea to just wave the notebook around the other kids.

Alone in my room. It was around an hour before dinner time.

Sitting in my trademark way at the edge of my bed, I pulled out the notebook from the inside of my shirt. Carefully, I examined the cover: it seemed that the words 'Death Note' was handwritten, carved in the leather with some weird ink filled in. I turned it over and over and noticed that there was no manufacturer's label on the cover. When viewed from the sides, it was apparent that the first fifty pages of the book was black paper, while the rest of the notebook was classic, cream-coloured writing pad.

So this notebook was custom-made? It was unlikely for the residents to have the means to have a notebook custom-made like this. Then, could it be one of the adults? One of the former residents of the place before it was called Whammy's House? Or, dare I say it, L or one of his direct subordinates?

The chances of the notebook belonging to L were really small, but I couldn't help but be intrigued at the possibility. L having suicidal thoughts was pretty interesting. My hands shook in excitement as I imagined how his personal thoughts would sound like…

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and opened the notebook to its first page.

What greeted my eyes was _not _what I had expected.

_Death Note: How to use it_

_1. The human whose name is written in this note shall die._

_2. This note will not take effect unless the writer has the subject's name in his/her mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected. _

Mindlessly, I browsed through all the obsessive, handwritten rules of the Death Note. The person who wrote these rules certainly didn't want room for questions, although there were references to Gods of Death, which sounded to me just a little bit too fantastic. All in all, there were 66 rules (minus the sub-rules) in the Death Note.

And the intentions of the person who made this notebook were clear: this notebook was created as a tool for killing human beings. One name and face at a time.

So much for suicide.

"Curiouser and curioser." I couldn't help but remark that to myself.

When I finally reached the first writing page, I paused. The notebook seemed to be unused.

I closed the notebook. Fun's over. For what it's worth, it was an entertaining read. A notebook that kills people sounds like a good horror story. It might have been created by one of the nerdy kids who wrote fantasy stories in their spare time. Good effort, I have to say.

Fifty minutes to go before dinner time. I read, re-read and processed all sixty-six sections within ten minutes. Now I have nothing left to do.

I carried the notebook with me and threw it on my computer desk. Then I started surfing the Internet.

Computers in our rooms were very limited, in that there were firewalls and other such programs that disabled us from entering certain websites. We were prohibited from entering into private sites, questionable sites, or even signing up for free email. Among the few sites that we were allowed to visit, I go to a page where both major and minor news from around the world can be read. Was L saving the world, like we all believed him to be doing all this time?

Three small crime stories I saw there answered the negative:

**_Rapist flees from London precinct_**_—Dinn Grey, 24, who is recently charged with rape offences, escaped yesterday afternoon from… (Read More)_

**_1 killed, 6 wounded in Tokyo, Japan—_**_In a fit of blind rage, Otoharada Kurou (????), 32, stabbed a man to death and wounds six others in Shinjuku... (Read More)_

**_Murderer of 4-year-old escapes death penalty_**_—Lia Mariuss, 32, given the guilty verdict for killing her 4-year-old son Lio, was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole… (Read More)_

Same old, same old. Small time killers are still running around, polluting the world like rats.

I stared at the clock: twenty minutes to go before dinner time. Not enough time to go to the playroom to play a decent game. The other kids were all probably hanging out there anyway, and it would be annoying if I had to mingle with them when my bottom's bruised up like this.

I picked up the notebook and stared at its cover. Maybe, maybe I should try it out…?

Unfortunately, it was one of those rare moments in my life where I didn't bother to think. I opened each article, browsed through the articles and photos, took a pencil, and wrote:

_Dinn Grey_

_???? Otoharada Kurou_

_Lia Mariuss_

It was a struggle to write Otoharada Kurou's name, but I managed to copy the Kanji neatly onto the notebook.

I closed the notebook. For the fun of it, I watched the clock, counting the seconds that passed.

_Bang. _Farewell, Dinn Grey.

_Bang. _Sayonara, Otoharada-san.

_Bang. _So long, Mrs. Mariuss.

* * *

Dinnertime. It was one of those rare evenings where we were allowed to watch TV while eating. As expected from Roger, we were made to watch an international news network. Most of the children found this useless and boring, and chose to just eat their food. 

_Around thirty minutes ago in the city of Winchester, the police located Dinn Grey, who was recently charged with rape and who escaped from London yesterday after his arrest. He had with him a 13-year-old girl from the area, whom he used as a hostage. _

"Oh, God," whimpered one of the adults as she watched the screen with frightened eyes, "that place is just a few minutes from us."

On the screen, the man was screaming, "_Don't come near me! I'll kill her!"_

When it looked like it was going to happen, however, something unexpected happened: The man crumpled on the floor, clutching his chest in pain. The terrified girl screeched and ran towards the awestruck police. After frothing in the mouth for a few moments, the man's body twitched terribly and died.

Some of the children gasped at this scene. That was probably the first death that any of us had ever seen.

_Unexpectedly, Grey suffered from a heart attack. The police, upon further examination, confirmed that he was dead. A full autopsy has not been conducted yet, but they concluded that the sudden heart attack is most likely the cause of his death…_

"Tsk, the old man probably got too excited," one of the boys near me muttered with a tinge of awe in his voice.

_In other news, this just in: while being escorted to the New Jersey State Prison by the police, Lia Mariuss suffered from a heart attack and died before the paramedics arrived. The 32-year old Mariuss was recently sentenced to life in prison for the murder of her 4-year-old son…_

I tried not to react as I bit into a potato.

Sitting not too far from me, Linda remarked, "Another heart attack? Scary coincidence…"

"Both of them happened at the same time, huh…" one of the other two said with a bored voice. "What are the chances?"

"People die from heart attacks all the time. It just seems out of the ordinary because they reported it one after the other."

"I guess you're right," said Linda, after listening to the two of them. She stabbed a piece meat from her plate and told me, "Wouldn't it be crazy if entire populations started dying from a heart attack pandemic?"

I shrugged at her. It was all I could do to keep myself from trembling and yelling.

_Did I just kill them?_

That night, I locked the door to my room, ran to my bed, and screamed into a pillow. I did this until my throat was sore.

(I never had to scream before in my life.)

I couldn't sleep that night. My hands trembled ceaselessly. My pajamas and beddings got immersed in my sweat. When I closed my eyes, the image of Dinn Grey's dead face took its place inside my head.

That one, unmoving, dead face. The colours did not change. The name that I wrote hung heavy on the air, flashing with the police lights and the shaking news cameras—it suffocated me. It was worse than any nightmare I could imagine.

That was the first night.

The next day, I went to the classrooms with everybody else. My scores from the last biology exam were phenomenal. The teacher smiled at me and said, _That's why you're fit to become the next L._

I smiled at her and said, _tell that to the other two._

I went up to my room, locked the door, and logged on to the Internet.

With small handwriting, I filled ten pages of the Death Note with names of criminals from all over the world. (Thus, I didn't get any sleep that night.)

The next morning's news headlines were phenomenal: _Hundreds of criminals die inexplicably from heart attacks._ The newspaper I saw wrote around ten stories about it, all displayed on the front page. The photos showed dead criminals on the floor, the faces of witnesses, nervous-looking detectives explaining things to groups of fierce-looking journalists.

_I killed them…_

I smirked.

That night, I wrote more names into the Death Note. And then I slept peacefully afterwards. 

- Chapter 2 end -

_Notes: It was a big struggle to write this chapter. I kept typing things, then removing them from this chapter, and then deleting narrations because they made the identity too obvious, and most of the time it's just mixed nuts. Hell, I even rewrote the entire thing after publishing the draft here! How do you develop a character while hiding his identity?! I wish most of this would be narrated by L, but alas, that is not the case here! Ah, I got myself into a fine mess, all right. But whatever. I'll write what I can and what I feel like, and I'll see how that goes. _

_I thank the heavens that death god dot org exists. I needed to cross-check a lot of facts from there, whoa. _


	3. 03: Disappearance

**I Have the Right to Destroy **

_Chapter 03: Disappearance_

L... what do I remember from L?

The children of Whammy's House had never met L in person before. There was only one occasion where he spoke to us, and it was through a web connection. The computer was a MacBook with a camera, where L was allowed to see us. The face that was shown to us was his trademark English font L against a white background. The voice that we heard when he answered the children's questions was scrambled beyond recognition. 

Ah, yes, that's the memory I have of L: he had no face, no smell. 

This is why I have nothing to say about L. For all we know, it could be Mr. Whammy who was speaking to us on the other side. Or, it could very well be some other being: a ghost? A vampire? A government official? 

The point is, L never proved his existence to me. 

L is scentless. 

L is nothing to me.

* * *

"What's that you're writing there?" 

I lifted the tip of the pen off the notebook and stared at my latest victim's name. I took a notepad from my desk and wrote, "This is so our friend knows who I am." 

"Quillsh Whammy," he read over my shoulder. "Eh? You're giving away your identity that easily? That doesn't sound very smart," he told me. 

I wrote, "You underestimate me, Mr. Ryuk. You know I have no intention of losing to him."

The death god, with its bulging yellow eyes and permanent grin, tilted his head in a comical way. "How are you going to win if L knows who you are? He's powerful enough to have that weird TV broadcast happen. If he knows who you are, he could just have you arrested or killed right here and now, even without proof, right?" 

I shook my head. By this time, writing with a pen comes easily to me. "I have a better idea of how L thinks than you. He might arrest me, but not without difficulty; after all, I doubt that he knows how to do many things by himself. He's just like"—I paused for a moment before writing, "Near."

Ryuk cackled and said, "Near…"

"L might do many things to me if I let myself get caught—I can't deny that, can I? But he won't kill me. I can assure you of that."

"Well. If you say so," said the death god. "I'd hate to kill you off too early. It's boring dealing with dead people." 

I stopped him with a wave of my hand. "Don't worry about it. I will make things very interesting for you, Mr. Ryuk." 

"Okay, if you say so. Hey, you don't mind if I go to the kitchen again and steal some apples from the stash, do you? You kids don't appreciate apples, anyway. All those yummy nutrients are wasted on you—all I ever see you guys eat are chocolate and more chocolate…" 

I nodded at him, even though I ignored most of his tirade. With that big smile on his face, he disappeared through the walls. 

I do hope he helps himself, because it's the last time he's going to stay here. It would be hard taking care of a death god suffering from withdrawal symptoms… 

After he left, I dipped my notes in ink, tore them apart, and threw them in the rubbish bin. And without further ado, I started writing down names and numbers into the Death Note.

* * *

It must have been a normal day for Roger Ruvie, acting headmaster of Whammy's House, except for the fact that he was the only one in the orphanage that morning. 

As per L's orders, he had to be alone when the message was transmitted. The night of the message, he hastily got the teachers together, gave them some money, and told them to take the children and the members of the staff to the city centre in Winchester. The teachers agreed. Part of their job is to understand that whatever questionable things Mr. Ruvie does in the orphanage must be tolerated, for Mr. Ruvie only did these things because Mr. Whammy told him to. 

The children, of course, would naturally be suspicious of what is _really_going on, but they also know that this is definitely all according to L's plan. All of them would oblige, because L can never be wrong. Besides, it's a field trip. For many of the younger children, it would be the first time that they would leave Whammy's House after their first day of residency. 

Exactly an hour after he personally saw all of the children and staff leave the premises, he locked all the doors, the windows, and retreated to his office. He closed the blinds, turned on his laptop, and waited for transmission. 

It started. His desktop, scant of icons and wallpaper, turned white. A singular letter appeared in the middle of this whiteness: _L. _

A scrambled voice echoed in the empty room: _Good morning, Mr. Ruvie. This is L. _

Mr. Ruvie typed, _Good morning, L. This is Roger Ruvie. _

_This transmission will last only five minutes. After that, please destroy this laptop within twenty-four hours. Make sure that the memory is completely erased and the unit itself is unusable. _

Mr. Ruvie nodded gravely and typed, _I understand. _

_Thank you, sir. I have terrible news for everyone…_

The disembodied, distorted voice of L reported every tragic, disgusting detail of the Kira case, as it had developed after the death of Lind L. Tailor. L, as always, was nowhere to be found. For now, he had no choice but to hide from the public eye, only a mere week after his international debut. 

As the old man listened, the same grave look never left his face. 

_Please listen to the next lines carefully. Mr. Ruvie, your life is in danger. Kira needs a name and face to kill. I'm afraid that the chances of you being killed by Kira within the next twenty-four hours are more than 90 percent. _

The news was not surprising. After all, the suspect was one of the children. 

_No need to worry, L. My death will not lower your chances of solving the case, _he typed. Next, with hesitation, he typed, _Who do you think Kira is among the suspects? _

L mentioned an alias. 

Mr. Ruvie frowned. _I see. How true do you think that is? _

_Lower than 2 percent, _replied L. 

_Then, I'll believe what you say. All the data that you…_

The clock chimed, 11:00 AM. 

_Mr. Ruvie? _

_Mr. Ruvie, are you still there?_

For the headmaster, there was no use comprehending the garbled voice of L. All he saw was darkness—and then, the darkness disappeared, and all he saw was his office. All the objects spoke to him, except that there was only one voice talking to him. The voice was distorted and unrecognizable, but desperate. 

_Five minutes are over._

Mr. Ruvie no longer knew himself. All he remembered were the words,_destroy… destroy…_

Mechanically, he opened his desk drawer, found a box of matches, and knew what he had to do. 

All he did was to follow orders. That was his purpose in life, after all. From the moment that he answered Mr. Whammy's call for help, up until this very moment, with L's letter fading into his desktop again… 

L got his wish: the laptop was destroyed within 24 hours of the transmission. 

Along with it, Roger Ruvie and the entire building of Whammy's House burned to the ground. 

That was how I imagined the second death, and I certainly liked how I pictured it.

* * *

When we all got back from our impromptu 'field trip,' the scene wasn't attractive in any way. 

It seemed that none of the teachers or staff was informed of the fire, which started a little after 11 AM. Whammy's House had no neighbours at all. The entire thing burnt to the ground, and authorities were only alerted at 2:00 PM, when a traveling truck passed by and saw enormous amounts of smoke. A forest fire was avoided, but that was all that was saved. 

The firemen and detectives rounded up everyone who used to live in the place and explained that the fire was probably caused by an individual, rather than an electric accident. They weren't crossing out the possibility of a 'serial arsonist' yet, but it seemed most likely that Mr. Ruvie committed suicide. 

"Oh, God." Upon seeing the wreckage and hearing the detectives' theories, all the adults crossed themselves. Many of the children cried for poor Mr. Ruvie. What could he have been thinking? What did he hear from Watari? 

More importantly, where do we go from here?

Ryuk, who flew beside me all throughout the field trip, was finished going through the rubble of Whammy's House. He groaned, "No more apples, kid. You could have warned me beforehand that you were planning on burning the house down. I could have stashed some apples in the forest," he told me. 

I was standing with the other two, who were silently staring at the space where the house used to stand so proudly. Amongst the noise, only the three of us remained dry-eyed and relatively level-headed. We knew that there was no use of crying. Crying was for losers. This was definitely a puzzle to be solved. 

One of them turned away from the rubble of the house, annoyance flashing in his eyes. I asked him, "What do you think happened here?" 

He turned to me and replied openly, "I think Roger was speaking with L before he died. And then he got killed by Kira." 

The other one had his arms crossed over his chest. He laughed a little too loudly and asked him, "You think he died of a heart attack before somebody else set him on fire? That doesn't sound very likely to happen." 

To my surprise, he gave a vague laugh. "Come on, do you honestly think that Kira's power is limited only to giving heart attacks to criminals?" 

Well now. I resisted an urge to smile. "What made you say that?" I asked him. I said this with only the slightest touch of suspicion in my voice—I mustn't let them notice how abnormally neutral I was being about this… 

He shrugged. "Just a hunch. I might be wrong." He was never one to give me serious answers. "One thing is clear, though: L is currently working on the Kira case. I wouldn't be surprised if he was speaking to Roger about it. Kira might have found it necessary to eliminate him, and Kira has the ability, right? All he needed was a name and face, and Roger never hid his name and face from the public."

"Wait, if that were true, why would L talk to him…?" The other boy frowned. He looked around to see if anyone was listening and said in a low voice, "Hey, are you saying that we have something to do with the Kira case?" 

He nodded. "Maybe… Maybe he thinks that one of us is Kira," he whispered. It was faint, but even _he _sounded a bit nervous when he said it. 

The three of us fell silent. Only the sound of Ryuk cackling behind me was the noise I heard. 

"That's… that's nonsense…" Now he was taking the other boy seriously. It was probably that unexpected nervousness in his voice that did it. None of us, after all, ever showed hesitation, especially not to each other. 

"Why would L think that?" I asked. 

He frowned at me and only shrugged his shoulders in response. 

"Heh, you better be careful of this guy," Ryuk told me, floating behind the doubter's head. "I don't think L is your only enemy now." 

You're right of course, Mr. Ryuk. But we can't let them see that, right? 

The other one sighed in annoyance. His spiky bangs floated in the air briefly before landing back over his brow. "You know, I hate to say it, but now that I think about it… It can't be entirely nonsense, what you just said. L did say over the broadcast that Kira is in England, and he needs a name and face to kill. Technically, everyone in England who reads the daily, uses the Internet, or lives in places where the names and faces of criminals can be seen are suspects. And Whammy's House residents fit 2 out of 3 of the criteria," he said. 

"England is a big place," replied the other boy with a challenging tone. 

"Yes, it is," he nodded. "Which makes me think that something happened that caused him and Watari to think that the killer is here…" He turned to me and asked, "What do you think it is?"

I looked at him for a few moments and pretended to think about my answer. "Maybe… maybe Kira did something that only a Whammy's House resident could have done. If the name and face is all you need, then it must mean that he was able to kill…" 

I paled after that. We all did. 

"Ku ku ku… you're really good at acting, kid," he told me. 

Some of the charred remains of Whammy's House floated away from us with the afternoon wind. 

* * *

Mr. Whammy had backup plans for everything. 

The remaining faculty and staff took the children to another house—a smaller version of Whammy's House, which was still big enough and good enough for all the children to recuperate. They would live off of the fortune that Watari left them, which was more than any of us ever dreamed. It was enough for them to live decently and more. 

None of them knew what to do next. There would be authorities to help them out, of course. The law protected them, and L would protect them. As long as he's alive, no harm will fall on these kids again. 

When the children were rounded up to board the bus again, the faculty noticed that there were only forty-seven children left. 

When the authorities jumped to their feet in search of these missing children, they stopped them. _All of them are free to leave at any time. It's part of the deal in Whammy's House. Please understand._

And so, four people disappeared from Winchester that day: 

Roger's remains were shipped off to the homicide department of Winchester's police for further examination. 

Mello, with his bag full of chocolates, addresses, and guns, walked off the scene. He was the type who never looked back. And this time was no different. His skinny clad-in-black frame against the violent orange sky disappeared with the horizon. 

Matt had a backpack with cheat codes, game cartridges, handheld gaming devices, and a wallet filled with some cash and small receipts. Cigarette calmly hanging from his mouth, he had that usual noncommittal look on his face when he left. 

Near willed himself to move on his own two feet for the first time—he had known that this would happen eventually, anyway. Taking his messenger bag of toys, clothes, books, and some money with him, he put on his shoes and walked away from the premises. 

All three knew that he will be the one to emerge victorious from all this. 

"It was as if no tragedy took place at all." Ryuk watched all this with glee. "I wonder who will win." 

"Isn't it obvious?" I told him. The Death Note rested peacefully inside my bag. "I will.

"The gods always do." 

- Chapter 3 end - 

_Note: All I needed to write this story was a hand-written outline. And all I needed to write Kira well was to make him sound less like himself and more like Light. Hehe. Hopefully, things will sound a bit better from this point forward. Guess if you want, otherwise, just enjoy the story as it unfolds. Go Kira :D_


	4. 04: Falsehoods

**I Have the Right to Destroy **

_Chapter 04: Falsehoods _

_(L) _

"Near, Mello, and Matt disappeared the day that Whammy's House burned down. It has been exactly fifteen days since that happened. I'm afraid that we have no idea on where they went. But as per Mr. Ruvie's instructions when we first started work… we didn't make any efforts in locating their whereabouts." 

This was the report I got from one of the remaining faculty members who were in charge of the remaining children, who were now settled in a house in Worcester.

"I see. Well then, please take care of the forty-seven left in your care—make sure that each and everyone of you has a different alias by now. Furthermore, destroy all photographs, pictures, and videos with their faces on it."

"Yes sir. Thank you, Watari."

"Thank you very much," I said, and ended the transmission. 

It's been fifteen days since the Whammy's House fire. It was broadcast briefly on the local news. Because the authorities who were in charge of the case knew it, three runaways were also mentioned briefly on the report. 

It had also been twenty-two days since Lind L. Tailor's death. Twenty-two days since I had to work the case all by myself. Twenty-two since I made conclusions about the identity of Kira. 

That's all I had been doing for almost a month, actually. Kira may think that I'd been alone for twenty-two days because Quillsh Whammy was eliminated. However, for most part, Watari was never gone. I simply had to find a replacement.

Using some of my most reliable 'trump cards,' I managed to monitor the progress of these three suspects. Mello seems to have the strongest strategy among the three—he was still in England, but he's moving fast. At first he and Matt communicated face-to-face when they were still in Winchester, but they ended up parting ways after that. 

Matt and Near, on the other hand, seemed to be moving slowly. Either they had no clue on where to go, or they're taking things easy for now. This was strange behaviour for Near—although he was average when it came to speed, he seemed to be uncharacteristically vague with his movements. However, it may be because he's never done things all by himself outside of Whammy's House before. Perhaps he's still adjusting to the ways of the world.

Where are you going, Near? Where do you plan to go?

Matt has also been quite a suspicious character. Initiative was never his strong feature—I had guessed that he'd be the first one to give up and to go to Worcester. After losing track of Mello, he stayed in an inn for one whole day. And after going all over the place the next day, he was now suddenly going in one solid direction. 

All three of them had equal opportunities to access names and faces of criminals through the media. And all the while, Kira's judgments continued. Nothing can be discerned from the times of death and the nature of the criminals who died.

* * *

I knew that if I just kept monitoring their movements, I would have room to make a bold move that would raise my suspicions of each suspect. However, from the start, I knew that I mustn't assume that my spies would be able to track them down for long. 

For some reason, once all of them were in London, my spies lost track of all three children. 

"Disappeared. My apologies, Danuve. Even with my bugs and cameras, the other spies and I were unable to find suspicious movements when they were alone. Ultimately, we lost them. It's as if they disappeared off the face of Earth," one of them reported.

"I see. Well, Whammy's House taught them well," I told her. "I have to ask you something though, Wedy. I am sending you some files. Please open _Document 1 _first." 

"All right. This is… a news report about a suicide in London?" 

"Yes. Please read it and take note of the pictures." 

"An unidentified teenaged boy burnt himself to death in the alleyway in London, leaving only a few questionable words written on the wall, with his blood."

"Yes. Witnesses who saw him before the fire said that he was around 5'5" or 5'6" in height, longish hair hidden under a cap, and had on dark glasses. The authorities only have dental records to confirm his identity. So far, there are no matches found," I replied. "Please close that file and open _Document 2." _

"Ah, the suicide note.

_Labyrinth of steel and light: _

_(indistinguishable text)_

_I will be there so catch me,_

_Minotaur_

"That was one of the strangest things I've ever read," remarked Wedy. "Much of the note was erased by him before he died. I wonder why…"

"All right. Leave that document open, and please proceed to _Document 3." _

"Another news report? From Japan, this time."

"Yes, a murder this time. It happened three days after the suicide in London," I said. 

"The beheaded body of a young, unidentified Caucasian male was found in a town in Chiba. The Japanese police cannot identify who the boy is, but they theorize that he was a victim of a serial killer who victimizes young American tourists. However, the note they found on the boy's body challenges this theory." 

"Based on the body that was left, the boy seemed to be an average child, except that his skin is paler than usual, and he was smaller and frailer than most children. The Japanese police already took his fingerprints, but so far, no matches. So far, nobody reported a missing child in Chiba that matches this description." 

"I see…" 

"All right. Now, as for the note… Please close that, and open _Document 4._"

"Hmm…

_Kill me, kill you _

_I will not drown in the _

_River of death _

_Alone_

"The note is in English!" exclaimed Wedy.

"Yes," I said. I bit down on my thumb as I spoke to her. "The most likely thing is that the serial murderer wrote that and left it on the body. However, it's also possible that it was the victim himself who wrote that. In that case, the murderer must have committed suicide already."

"I see… I have a feeling that you're not telling me something about this case, Danuve."

"Why?"

"These notes and pictures… All you've shown me so far are news reports. I know there's something else that you found out that the public doesn't know…" 

"Yes." I bit into a Snickers bar as I explained things to her. (I had to make do with mass-produced sweets for twenty-two days now.) "That is, two things tie these murders together. First are the suicide notes." 

"The suicide notes? How?" 

"Did you notice anything strange about them?" 

"There's the fact that they're both vague and poetic… also, if you read them in another context, they do not sound like suicide notes at all."

"Very good, Wedy. Anything else?"

It took moments before she said, "Well… From the second note, I can read _Kira _from the first letters of each line. It's striking, but I don't think that it's a message from Kira himself." 

"Why not?" 

"Kira's signature is criminal death by heart attack. He or she does not need to use such a blatant signature," she answered. "I would think that this is a coincidence, or the work of a fanatic who's trying to be like Kira." 

"Very good, Wedy. I expected that answer from you," I said. "But that conclusion does not tie up the Chiba death with the suicide in London." 

"Well…" Again, a few moments for processing. "If you use the same reading style with the first note, it would read L IM KIRA. It can sound like_ L, I am Kira._ It sounds a bit coherent, but it completely disregards the erased parts of the message. Plus, I don't see a connection between a suicide in London and a murder in Chiba… I think you're hiding something from me." 

I tossed the candy wrapper over my shoulder. "I did say two things tied the murders together. And this second thing is the manner of death." 

"Suicide? But Kira can't do that… can he?" 

I sighed. "Unfortunately… it's very likely that he can."

"How could you say that?"

"Both of them died from heart attacks." 

"What! How—"

"Open _Document 5 _if you want. Those are the autopsy reports for both cases," I said. I've committed every detail of the report in memory, and I recited, "The City of London Police wisely chose to hide the true cause of death from the public because the victim wasn't a criminal. It would have caused outrage if the public found out that the boy was probably killed off by Kira. 

"The death itself is bizarre—the police theorized that the boy wrote the poem on the wall out of a whim, and when he lit a cigarette, he had a heart attack. This caused the boy to catch fire, and to be burnt beyond recognition.

"For the death in Chiba, the true cause of death was broadcast. True enough, the media went wild, saying that Kira can kill innocent people, after all. It seemed that the beheading took place after the heart attack. There are still no leads as to who the beheader is, and why it was done. It was enough to make international news." 

"So… are you saying that Kira did these things to give you a message?" asked Wedy. 

I answered her with another question. "Do you still think that it is Kira who did these things?" 

A few moments of thinking. "Are you saying that another person has the same ability as Kira?" 

"It's just as you said—Kira will not do these things because his purpose is to create what he calls a _just society. _And killing these two kids aren't going to help him attain that goal. So far, we cannot say if Kira has the same ability as this person. But it is apparent that this second Kira—"I'll need another candy bar for this one—"has even greater powers than the First Kira."

"How could you say that?" 

"Both of the children who died are unidentified until now. While their deaths might have hindered the police to identify them immediately, it is likely that their names are not easily available. Kira needs a name and face to kill—that's a fact. However, this one seems to need only a face to kill.

"Furthermore, based on the suicide notes and their messages… I am certain that this Kira can also manipulate people's actions before their deaths." 

"That's scary," she answered me, after a long period of nothing. "So the message is not just for L, but for Kira too?"

Finishing my 5th candy bar in an hour, I answered, "Yes. _'L. I will there so catch me, Minotaur.Kira.' _Apparently, second Kira wants Kira and L to go to Japan."

After that, the transmission was over. Hopefully, Wedy would be quick to destroy the laptop she used to communicate with me. 

I reviewed the status of the investigation, given our new discoveries. If 2nd Kira can manipulate the death the way that he or she did, is it possible that Kira has other powers he hasn't shown yet?

_(Roger Ruvie definitely committed suicide, right after I spoke to him about the Kira case.)_

I re-read the suicide notes again. _"Minotaur…"_

_MI L_

_M IL_

_River_

Were these merely coincidences?

* * *

London City Airport. I was no good at arranging things like fake passports and flight schedules all by myself, but I managed to ask Aiber to accompany me all the way to Japan, as well as to help me with my posture and my disguise. 

"How are you feeling?" he asked me. He was tall, blond, and combed his hair. He never needed to worry about blending in when he needed to, or standing out when it was necessary. That's the kind of look ideal for his profession. 

I nodded. He didn't ask me to brush my hair, but he gave me a pair of black Chuck Taylors and white socks to wear, and told me to put some amount of make-up to improve my complexion and to hide my eyebags. Furthermore, he told me to stand up a bit straighter than usual. 

I could feel my reasoning ability go down by 10 percent. 

"You said it yourself, you know. People can tell by your complexion that you don't go outdoors and you only face TV screens and computers all day. The strange posture will make you stand out more than usual, too. Both of them can be used against you," he explained with a wink. 

I grunted. I was worried about using a public plane without Watari's assistance to get to Tokyo. If I had to stand like this and to sit like a normal man, I probably won't be observant enough to see anything suspicious… 

_BUMP. _

"Ah, ex-cuse-o-me…" 

A bit disoriented, a small, rushing Japanese girl with bleached hair bowed to me apologetically and rushed off, stroller in hand. It would seem that we were headed off to the same waiting area. 

"Careful there, Luke, don't give up now while you're standing!" Aiber said. "Don't worry. Just hold out for seventeen hours, okay? And then we can meet with our friends," he whispered as an afterthought.

Heaven help me.

* * *

Seventeen hours is a long time to be up in the air. Most of the passengers, after five hours, seemed to slip into comas of their own. 

Aiber and I decided not to take first-class seats, based on the reasoning that Kira and second Kira might be on the same flight (although the chances of second Kira flying to London, back to Japan, and then to London again are very small). Given that all the Kira suspects either looked or dressed distinctly, they would be wearing disguises.

We were seated at the very last seats on the plane. No-one could see me back here, except perhaps for the elderly man who entered the lavatories nearest to our seats.

"I'm going to the bathroom," I told Aiber, even though his eyes were closed. 

I stood up straight and walked towards another lavatory, quickly scanning sleeping, or otherwise silent faces as I went. 

When I reached the bathroom at the other end of the plane, I went in, shut the door, and sat on the toilet in my usual way. 

_Five of those people may have been Kira, _I thought to myself. 

_Could any of them have it in him to dress as a girl?  
_

Despite the situation, I smiled as I bit my thumb in thought. 

* * *

As arranged beforehand, an ex-FBI agent met us at the airport. 

"Good evening! I'm _Micchan24 _from the Mangaka Maniacs Net forum, but you can call me Maki," she said in English, bowing to us politely. 

Despite being a woman, she insisted on helping me with my luggage. She then led us outside of the airport, where a car driven by a member of the Japanese police incognito was waiting for us.

* * *

_Matt sat alone in the waiting area of the train station. As usual, he was leaning forward, much like Rodin's _The Thinker_. When Near saw him, he was staring at some young lady's back. _

_He must have noticed that somebody was watching him. When Matt turned and saw him there, all he could do was smile at him and go, "He, he he…" A puff of cigarette smoke floated around his face as he said, "I never thought I'd see the day." _

_He gestured towards Matt's free hands. "You aren't playing with your videogames." _

"_My DS just ran out of juice. I'm saving my PSP for the next hour on the train," he answered simply._

_After that, Near didn't say anything. The bulky messenger bag made sounds—plastic hitting plastic— as he sat down a seat away from Matt. Automatically, one foot went up the edge of the seat, while the other one dangled freely, only barely touching the ground. _

"_You know, you're not at home anymore, Near. Plus for the first time in your life, you're wearing shoes. Maybe you shouldn't sit that way," said Matt. _

"_These seats were dirty in the first place. No difference," replied Near. _

_The goggled boy smiled again. It must have been strange for him to speak with Near so soon, when it's only been a week since their last conversation. "So you're boarding the train to London too, huh."_

"_Yes."_

"_I didn't know you ran away too." _

"_It was necessary for me to leave the house as well. After all, all of us back then thought that we were suspects," he replied. _

"_Wait, doesn't that make you seem guilty? If you're running away from L, that is." _

"_All of us seem guilty right now, Matt." The reflection of his dull, dark eyes shone on Matt's goggles. _

_For a while, only the sounds of engines, rolling suitcases, and crowds filled the space between them. _

_Suddenly, Near spoke. "You're searching for him too?" _

_Matt tilted his head in curiosity. "For Mello?" _

_Near didn't move._

_"I lost track of Mello days ago, if that's what you're asking me," answered Matt. "I don't have a clue on where he intends to go. For all I know, he's flown out of the country ages ago." _

_"I see." _

_Thoughtful silence._

_Matt took the used cigarette out of his mouth. He flicked it off somewhere. Didn't even care to look where it landed. "But you're not asking about Mello, are you?" _

_Near didn't answer the question. _

_"So you think he's the one?"_

_Again, Near didn't answer, but Matt could have _sworn _his mouth moved. He wasn't sure whether he was smiling, frowning, or whether he was thinking of something…_

_Before they could finish their conversation, they were called to board the train going to the London Waterloo Station._

_When Near stood up, Matt had his back turned on him and was already walking away. Finally, the brown hair, stripes, and bulky backpack disappeared within the crowd._

Matt. I wonder what you would have done to me if I told you "I am Kira," _he thought to himself with a devious smile before he turned around and boarded the train by himself. _

_- Chapter 4 end - _

_Notes: When it comes to L, I get tongue-tied. I guess I get too preoccupied in trying to sound smarter than usual, which is why I get more confused. Ugh! Wedy and Aiber are there so that L had somebody to talk to. I'm sure that Tsugumi Ooba would never make L do the things I did, so forgive me if I insult your intelligence!_

_Just in case you're getting suspicious of me, I'm not switching Kira from one kid to another, you hear? From the start, there's only been one Kira. I hope I've been consistent enough though, haha. And, hm hm hm. We have a second Kira. Haha, but I'm not going to hide who second Kira is. In fact, I'm rather excited about revealing it. Hahaha!_

_Finally, I also thank the heavens for the existence of Wikipedia and Google, because I've never been to England before in my life. _


	5. 05: Love

**I Have the Right to Destroy **

_Chapter 05: Love _

_(Second Kira) _

"Misa, are you sure about this?" asked Rem. 

We were riding a train headed off for Shibuya. Rem looked so cute when she was on a train! She was huge and all boney, and to me it seemed as if everyone on the Yamanote Line were too busy to notice a creature like her was sitting next to them. 

I smiled at her. Of course, I couldn't speak to her out loud, or else I'd look like a crazy person. Imagine what people would think if a cute _Lolita_ like me were caught talking to herself! Of course they'd be interested, and then they'd look at me and see through my disguise. My plan for the day would be ruined if people saw that I was Amane Misa, teen idol on the rise! The last thing I needed were icky photographers and gossip journalists ruining my name. 

That day, I was dressed more country _amaloli. _I had on a bright pink wig with green streaks, blue contact lenses, round wire-rimmed glasses, and a white-and-pink sundress—very uncharacteristic of punk Lolita Misa, who is usually seen on TV and magazines. I hated looking so much like a cake, but I had to look more… _innocent? _If I wanted to create a good plan… 

Kira just _had_ to be in Japan by now… L _had to think _that I was Kira, and if he's serious about capturing Kira, then he'd also be in Japan by now… and because of that, I'll have to get rid of L, for Kira's sake! He's going to love me if that happens… 

"Misa, what if Kira was a woman?" Rem had asked me before, the day after I came back from Chiba. 

"Then I will love her all the same!" I told her. "Love is powerful, Rem. It gave me Kira's power—you said so yourself. Poor Jealous-chan died because of love, and Misa will surely not waste his love for me. Whoever Kira is, I will love him. And he will love me too, once he finds out all that I've done for him…" 

That time, Rem could only sigh with that huge, scary voice of hers. (Wait, if she can sigh, then I guess shinigami breathe too, _ne?_) She probably wouldn't understand the power of human love because she's a shinigami.

* * *

Shibuya was a big place to be walking alone. Just look at the scramble line! All those names, numbers and faces passing by so quickly. Busy days like these make me feel like I'm drowning in a sea of names. This is why work with the agency had been difficult for me, lately…

I found a few girlfriends to pass the time with, fortunately. Clad in our disguises, all of us agreed to meet up in Harajuku, where we could take pictures of each other. 

"Misa-Misa?" she mouthed. In her chunky boots, my friend Kiyomi pattered up to me and embraced me. "I hadn't seen you since our last job in London!" she whispered. 

"Kiyomi-chan!" I hugged her right back. We were both hiding our identities as models from the public today, and we were both careful not to speak too loudly. We don't want eavesdroppers or journalists snooping around us today, you know! "That was a long absence for you, I heard!_How has To-Oh University been treating you since you've been back_?" I asked her in English. 

"You're still hung-over from the trip, I see! It's okay. Everything I missed was easy stuff. People think it was pretty stupid of me to leave just to go model for _Eighteen _magazine, which they say is a pretty brainless magazine. But as usual, they're just jealous," she told me. "You've been busy too, right? Last time I called, your manager told me you were out in Nagano or Nagasaki or Chiba or something…" 

"I've been working hard!" I said, puffing up my cheeks in fake annoyance.

"Heh, you single girl, you. Working hard for love, you mean?"

We both exploded into a giggle fit.

Tourists also get excited and take pictures with us. It's great, being so pretty. 

In the midst of doing the victory signs, grinning, and giggling gratefully at the flood of _kawaii's _from the tourists, Rem floated around us. She said that she was interested in photography, but she was just probably afraid of my face being on other people's cameras… 

Rem, don't do anything supernatural for now, okay? 

When I borrowed my friend Miki's parasol, I saw _him _passing by. 

(Wow… as expected, he's young, and already he's… very handsome… oh, I love his hair, it looks so soft! And those glasses… he looks like such a cute emo boy!) 

My message got through! Misa-Misa victory! 

Rem also noticed this, but she didn't say anything. They weren't allowed to say if they see other shinigami, were they…?

During the impromptu photoshoot, Kiyomi nudged me lightly. "Remember that guy over there? The guy from my university?"

"Light Yagami?" Sure enough, he was there, walking around with a group of his friends. The guy who topped the entrance exam for To-Oh. The one who got some of his anti-Kira essays published in the _Nihon Nougyou Shimbun_.

He glanced at our group briefly, raised an eyebrow, and kept walking in the midst of his group of friends. 

"Hee hee, he looks as serious as ever. He's probably stalking somebody for the Japanese police—or at least, he's pretending…" 

I laughed. "Kiyomi-chan, don't be so hard on him just because you're one of his exes. You told me once that he's an honest guy." 

"Yeah…" she scratched her head bashfully. "I guess I'm just a bit bitter. His dad's the vice chief of police, you know—the type who gets important cases and all that. Yagami-Father has admitted more than once in press conferences that Light helped him on his cases." 

_Important cases? _

It's just Light Yagami but… this could mean that the Japanese Police responded to my call! 

Then… did L respond to my call, too? 

I grinned at her. "Kiyomi-chan, you're still a bit in-love with Light-kun, aren't you? We should all have coffee together after this!" 

"Misa-Misa!"

See, Rem. I told you that using Sakura TV was a good idea.

* * *

I'll never forget Light Yagami. He humiliated me once before, you know. 

To-Oh University had an open forum about the whole Kira situation. People from outside the university, from all walks of life, were invited. As long as the audience and the organizers were convinced that you can say something interesting, then you can be a speaker. 

Kiyomi, like me, was pro-Kira. As one of the organizers of the event, she invited me to speak for the crowd. I had my apprehensions, of course: _Misa-Misa is only a model who only finished high school. Would people take me seriously? _

She told me that it was okay. As long as I was honest and consistent, and careful with my words, I would 'pass'. I just had to clear my head during the open forum after my speech. 

I agreed. 

During my speech, I told everyone that I accepted Kira's methods because of personal reasons. As I've mentioned in magazine interviews before, my parents were murdered. Despite the fact that I _witnessed _the killer as he escaped from our house, the murderer managed to escape death penalty or prison time. Moments after he was set free, he died from a heart attack. 

My reason for supporting Kira after that is simple: there are other victims like me whom the current legal system cannot help. Kira helps everyone victimized by crime, therefore he is just. 

I got applauded after that, of course. It was probably the tears in my eyes when I narrated the story of my parents. However, when the open forum came, that jerk Light…

He actually _challenged my eyewitness account. _

_I'm not saying that what Amane-san saw was right or wrong. But to trust in that testimony alone is not enough to say that the man was guilty. You could think about it this way, Amane-san: if you, the other witnesses, the police, and the lawyers were unable to paint a clear picture of the crime itself, how could Kira know who is truly guilty? What gives Kira the right to judge? The right to destroy?_

I'm not sure how the people in the auditorium reacted when he asked his questions. I vaguely heard people booing him… or maybe they were saying, "yeah, go Yagami-kun!" I wasn't able to answer that because I just broke down in tears. 

Kiyomi-chan and I decided against having coffee with Light-kun, after all. Who knows what he'll say to us, anyway?

* * *

Using some old videotapes sent from Nagano, I told the police that I have found Kira. As Second Kira, I thanked them for showing the diary I sent to the public. Sakura TV is such a great TV station. Anything that will help with their ratings is good. 

As expected, the police and the media freaked out when they heard this. "Please confess," they said in a speech of righteousness. 

Misa-Misa is a nice person, so she followed their orders. 

There were three places mentioned in the diary: "_I went shopping with a friend in Shinjuku." "We exchanged notebooks in Harajuku." "We dated in Aoyama." _

In the Blue Note Café in Aoyama, I saw him again. Today, I wore a simple disguise: shirt, jeans, a short black wig, no make-up, and black-rimmed glasses. He was talking to a Japanese woman, who seemed to be a friend of his. Gasp! Oh no! Is she… is she a _girlfriend _of his? Although, now that I'm seeing him up close, it would seem that he was disguised as a flat-chested girl…

Or maybe he _was _a flat-chested girl… but that was definitely his name floating over his head! It didn't have those weird numbers or anything! I don't know much about Western names, but I'm pretty sure that it was a boy's name… it sounds so… manly! 

That woman... _Naomi Misora, _is it? I'll have to remember that name… Just in case Kira asks me to do something about it. Hee hee. 

I felt a bit bad after that, but in the first place, I knew that I shouldn't come forward so easily. So I did what I had to… 

"Rem, can you… make him touch this when we're out of the bathroom? You don't have to say anything to him or his death god. He'll figure things out for himself…" 

I gave her a_teeny-tiny _piece of the Death Note with some writing in it. (I kept some pieces of it in my underwear. Safety first! Tee hee.) 

She sighed that strange shinigami sigh again. Rem is so cute when she knew she can't refuse me. 

Sure enough, Kira saw my shinigami. He was surprised, but not scared at all when he saw it—in fact, he looked at Rem as if she were a piece of furniture. Not excited at all. 

Tee hee.

* * *

There weren't many places where we could meet in private; we had to make do with a shady-looking love hotel. We'll only be here for a few hours, fortunately. Our first change of clothes was already sitting in a dumpster outside.

"Kira judged the person who killed my parents… everyone knows that, and everyone knows that I love Kira because of what he did for me and my family! So please… Misa can do whatever you ask me to do!" 

He held my Death Note gingerly between two fingers. It was as if he were afraid of damaging it, or of insulting the Shinigami by my side. 

(I can't blame him—after all, Rem just told him that she'll kill him if he tried to hurt or kill me in any way. Rem, you're too protective of me!)

He looked at me. The glasses were off his face now. It was difficult to look into his eyes—they were wide, they seemed to be afraid to be so exposed. Maybe he wasn't used to strong emotions, or maybe he was just obsessed with controlling his feelings? In any case, I worked hard to look into his eyes. He might not know it, but they're beautiful. 

"You'll never lie to me, will you, Amane-san?" he asked me in Japanese. 

"Misa-Misa would never tell lies to you, only to other people," I told him. At this time, I was kneeling on the floor. 

He thought for a long time. He looked at Rem with a vague look, and then to his side. "I see. I guess I have no choice then, Amane-san. I respectfully ask you: will you work with me in my mission to renew the world?" 

All I could do was gasp. My eyes filled up with tears of joy. 

I crawled towards him and put my arms around his waist. He was incredibly skinny—all I felt under his clothes were his bones. They were lovely.

Taken aback, he fell off his chair. He wasn't sitting like Michelangelo tonight (wait, or maybe it was Donatello or Leonardo or Raphael or Berninny, or maybe the guy was French? Napoleon? Hmm… Misa should really study more European everything); he was upright, with only half of his back leaning against the computer chair's back. I should have known that if I hugged him like that, he would lose his balance and we'd both crash to the ground. Hee hee. Silly Misa-Misa. 

Now we were on the floor. He seemed to not know what to do. Or maybe he was just thinking of his next move. Ever since meeting him, that's all I've ever seen him do. I guess with his mission to change the world—no, to rule it, even—it's truly necessary to always think… 

That's why men need women. Distract them when it's necessary; love them when no-one else will. 

"I will follow you wherever you will go," I whispered to him softly. Yes, Misa-Misa will follow you into your new world. 

Into the dark…

* * *

"Misa-san. Didn't I just tell you that I'm already being investigated by the Japanese Police? What are you doing here?" he whispered into my ear.

"I couldn't wait to see you again," I told him. 

He closed his eyes, as if to control some of his burning feelings (for me, no doubt!). "Then, please get off me…" he muttered.

"Oh, sorry…" I must have pounced on him too hard. I really have to remember that he's much younger than me. 

He led the way to where he was staying. I worried a bit that I got _too excited, _that I pounced on him when we were still outside. But I shouldn't worry. Den-en-chofu was a very Western-looking residential area with expatriates living in it, so Kira didn't really stand out in this neighbourhood. Maybe a few eccentric friends pouncing on each other wasn't considered too abnormal, ne?

Oh yeah. He _did _mention that he was already being investigated by the Japanese Police… didn't he? Ah, Misa-Misa should really pay attention. If they're snooping around, then I'm a suspect already! 

Oh well. I'll just have to kill them, if it comes to that. Hee hee! 

If the Japanese Police gets us, then let it be. Misa-Misa will not lose to you! 

If L gets us, then let him get me! Misa-Misa will win, even against you! In the name of love! 

_- Chapter 05 end - _

_Notes: Hurray for Misa, for I must have tortured your brains too much with this rather random Misa chapter. "Dammit, enough cradle-snatcher ditzy non-sequitur Misa! Where are the clues, you bastard!" Haha! Hurray for 'Kiyomi-chan'—is this still Takada though, I wonder, since I bastardized the character a bit too much…? I'm not even sure if it's normal for models in Japan to still go to university—all I know is it's normal where I come from, haha! Anyway, you have to add out-of-character elements in your characters to make them a bit more interesting and original, right? Ah, excuses, excuses. XD_

_Also, hurray for Wikipedia for being so easy-to-use. I've never been to Japan my entire life, either. And hurray for the Ninja Turtles for giving me more ideas XD_

_Ah, by the way. I am always interested in reading your theories. If you're worried about people 'stealing' your hypotheses, or if you're just worried about how outrageous your theories are, you can always visit my profile page to PM me. :) Thanks for reading!__  
_


	6. 06: Contact

**I Have the Right to Destroy **

_Chapter 06: Contact_

_(Light Yagami)_

"Hey, big brother, listen to this!"

I paused from laying out the dishes on the table and looked at Sayu. She was sprawled out on the couch in the living room, and she was holding a gossip magazine. I rolled my eyes. Before I could say anything else, she began spouting out,

_"A certain popular model, which we will hide under the name A.M., was seen strolling around the suburbs with a young American man! Is this A.M.'s new boyfriend? Sources say that this is only a mere two weeks after a relationship with a prodigy student from one of the top universities in Japan was over, because the guy allegedly cheated on her for one of her friends! Or perhaps, a disagreement in beliefs? A.M. sure has refined taste in men. Given that she's a university dropout, this strikes us as rather strange! A.M., perhaps it would be better for you to remain single for a while and discover what your dark soul tells you to search for—that is how the heart develops…" _

"Sayu, that's enough." I tried my hardest not to snap at her.

She put down the magazine and gave me a smug smile. "What? I thought you'd be interested, brother. I mean, this A.M., wasn't she a friend of yours before?"

"I never went out with anyone with the initials _A.M._"

"Ah, you're probably westernizing her name. M.A. could work too, brother! Or M.M.A., if you want."

I frowned.

"Tsk," she threw the rag on the coffee table and stretched. "Ah, brother, don't be like that. I was only teasing you about Misa-Misa. I know that they implicated you in that report because of the Kira talks in To-Oh. People can be really imaginative when they need to be, eh?"

I sighed. "Those idiots. They see two people together, and they think they're dating. One day, when you get really popular in college and the famous guys like Ryuga Hideki go after you, you'll know how I feel…"

She sighed dreamily. "Ah, Ryuga-kun… I don't know, brother. I sure wouldn't mind if people thought I was dating Ryuga Hideki…"

Sayu… you're definitely my little sister, but sometimes I don't know if we're really related.

I stared at the clock. It was 8.00 PM.

The police would surely say that the vice-chief of police was still at his office, working at his case with the rest of his team. But I knew better than that.

It was easy to figure out what case this was. Of course it's the Kira case, or at least the second Kira case. Those tapes broadcast by Sakura TV and those dead journalists were certainly no joke.

But even before the tapes were broadcast, I knew that Dad was already working on the Kira case—with who else but L, that world-famous detective, the smartest one to emerge after the last world war? Those files that I obtained from hacking into his work computer spoke volumes. That was how I knew more about the Kira case than your average Japanese student…

I'm sorry, Dad. That's the flaw in your perfect son: he just can't mind his own business.

"You've got that weird look in your eyes again, Light," said Sayu. "Don't tell me you're spying again…"

I put a finger to my lips. "Our little secret."

She sighed in exasperation and said, "I don't know anything, yeah, yeah…"

* * *

After attending a couple of classes in school the next day, I went to my favourite café by myself. During breaks like these, I usually read notes for the Kira case. I knew that they would probably never use whatever I find out—hell, even if I was right, would anybody believe that a university student could solve something that the top detectives of Japan couldn't?

All the same, I couldn't leave the case alone. Out of all the criminals in the world, Kira has to be the worst—and at the same time, the best of them.

Kira—the hardest puzzle in the world to solve. I wished to be that one person who would solve it.

I wrote all my notes in a black notebook—all the important dates, figures, and events were outlined there. I just know that if I had a list of suspects, I would easily figure out who Kira was.

The key lies in second Kira—definitely a Japanese person. Already met the original Kira. Lacks in intelligence, probably an everyman who was unfortunate enough to gain Kira's power…

I sighed. No use reviewing the notes now. Dad was probably instructed by L to not put the suspect lists in his computer. I had no leads at all.

I sipped my iced latte and closed my eyes as I thought. I didn't know how long I was thinking, but when I opened my eyes, a blonde woman wearing sunglasses was sitting across me.

I almost spewed out my coffee, but I managed to get a hold of myself. She smiled at me.

"Yagami Light, I presume?" she told me in flawless Japanese.

I nodded.

She looked around. She probably realized how private the booths were in the café and considered it safe to speak to me normally. "How would you like to work on the Kira case with us?"

I narrowed my eyes at her. I didn't say anything.

She laughed softly. "It must seem to you like a joke, right, Yagami-kun? Trust me on this one, though. If you're interested in any way at all, open your personal computer tonight. 8 PM. Use your earphones. No need for an internet connection. Don't be late, or else we won't hire you." With that, she stood up and sauntered out of the café.

Well. If that wasn't suspicious, I don't know what is.

* * *

Even then, that night, I walked to my room and opened my personal computer at precisely 7.59 PM. (I kept my computer neat and bug-free, so I didn't have to worry about spending too much time waiting for it to start up.)

It was unlikely that any of my friends knew that I was doing a private investigation on the Kira case since Sayu is the only person who knew about it. But I told myself not to feel _too terrible _if it turned out to be a practical joke. (It probably was, since my doorknob didn't look right and the mechanical pencil lead was broken when I went in.)

8.00 PM. Just when I was pondering on plugging in the Ethernet cable on my computer, the screen turned white.

I stared at the screen. A single _L, _in English font, floated in the middle of the screen, and a scrambled voice rang out horribly from my earphones:

_Good evening, Yagami Light. Thank you very much for answering my assistant's call. I truly appreciate it. _

This guy needs no further introduction. That much I guessed.

I pondered for a while on how to answer him. I didn't have a microphone, and it was obvious that I probably shouldn't talk out loud in hopes that he bugged my room. People outside would hear.

Feeling a bit unconfident, I typed in, _Thank you very much for inviting me. M and M's are only good when they do not have peanuts inside them. _

_I don't agree. I eat all types of M and Ms. However I find that eating other types of chocolate are more sensible because M and Ms are never satisfactory on their own. Unfortunately, that is not the issue at hand here, _he replied.

Okay, so this guy wasn't merely a computer program that somebody installed into my computer.

_Yagami Light, I know that you are probably doubting my authenticity here, and I cannot blame you. Unfortunately, this transmission will end in exactly five minutes, whether we are finished with our discussion or not. After that, I ask you to destroy your personal computer within twenty-four hours. _

_What? Why is that necessary? _I typed in.

_Safety first, _he replied. He must have known that I was freaking out about the prospect of destroying my PC and started explaining: _Consider the nature of the case we are working on. It would be dangerous for you and I both if our conversation tonight is recorded—indeed, if anybody even knew that we spoke with each other tonight… _

You've got to be kidding me.

_Please just assume that you have no choice but to do as I say. Now that we are speaking to each other, I'm afraid we'll have to do "something" to you if you back out now. _

_All right. I will listen to you, _I typed in.

_Good. _A strange noise emerged afterwards. With the voice scrambler that he used, I assumed that he was chewing on something… could it be a candy bar? _As my assistant informed you earlier, we are going to talk about the Kira case tonight. _

_Tell me, Light-kun, have you heard about the murder in Chiba ten days ago? _

I typed in, _Are you talking about the headless Kira victim, with the strange note?_

_Yes, precisely, _he replied.

_I studied the case. _

_You studied it? What resources did you use, exactly? _

_News reports, _I typed. I looked from side to side and added, _Police reports. _

_Police reports. _

_Yes, police reports. _

_I see. Thank you for being honest about hacking into your father's files, Yagami-kun. _

I winced. I didn't like the way he said it. I don't know how he did it, but it would seem as if I've been under surveillance for a while now.

_So tell me your thoughts about the case, Light-kun, since you've admitted to me that you've studied the case. Please give me only the details which you think are important._

I smiled. _The most important detail I discovered about the case is that it was probably the second Kira's first kill. _

_Really now, _he replied. _What made you say that? _

A weird sense of pride welled up from within me as I ferociously typed, _the note left on the victim's body was written in English. If you read the first letters of the poem, it reads KIRA. This was clearly meant to implicate the original Kira in the crime because of the presence of his name and the usage of English. (L uncovered that Kira came from an English-speaking country.) However, this was clearly not the work of Kira, because of the manner of death… that is, it would seem that the person who killed the victim only needed a face to kill, and furthermore, he can manipulate the events before the death itself. Therefore, I can conclude that the death was second Kira's first call to the first Kira. It was merely an invitation to go to Japan. _

_I see, _said the detective. He replied so fast that I doubt he even processed all that I had typed. Did he need to save time that badly? _How about the videos that the second Kira sent to Sakura TV? What do you think of them? _

_Again, they were calls for the first Kira… using the same tactic of disguising himself as the first Kira, the second Kira killed non-criminals to instill fear into the public, presumably to blackmail the police and Kira himself to arrange for a meeting between him and Kira. It was the same haphazard tactic, and the death of a police officer during the broadcast proved that the person needed only a face to kill. _

_Interesting, Yagami-kun. But you have to admit that the second Kira acted very differently from his first kill, as compared to how he handled the Sakura TV incident. _

_What do you mean? _I asked.

_How do I say this? The first kill was more _artistic _than the second kill. Do you see what I mean? _

_I suppose so, _I said.

_So what do you think about this theory: there are more than two Kiras in the world today. The first is the Kira that killed Lind L. Tailor, the second is the one responsible for the Chiba murder, and the third started the Sakura TV incident. _

I thought about it for three seconds (I was conscious about the five-minute limit, after all) and said, _No, I do not think that it is likely. _

_Why not? _

_Simply put… if they were different people with the same power to kill with just the face, then… I would think that the 'poetic' second Kira would have killed the 'non-poetic' second Kira ages ago. He would not have had the chance to send the last video to the police, which stated _I have found Kira_. Furthermore, I think that the personality of the person is the same. To spell out KIRA through the poem is as unrefined as sending those tapes to Sakura TV. _

_Haha… _a strange, childish laugh emanated from my earphones. I shuddered a bit. _I think that your thoughts are interesting, Yagami-kun. I have to say, though, that you probably know more than you realize. _

_I do not understand what you are implying, _I typed.

_Well then, let me make it simple for you. _More munching noises. _A friend of yours was arrested minutes ago, under the suspicion of being the second Kira. _

My eyes widened. My fingers shook as I typed, _What? Who? _

_Amane Misa. _

_This is why I am inviting you to go where the investigations are taking place, Yagami Light. Your thoughts about these developments would certainly be welcomed by the investigation team. This will not be the last time that we will speak. _

Five minutes were over after that.

* * *

"Now they're inviting my son for no good reason at all! Honestly, that Ryuzaki. Sometimes I don't know whether he's really thinking about the case as seriously as the rest of us… did he use his brains or not? It's probably all that sugar…" grumbled Dad as he took off his belt.

_Sugar? _I remembered the chewing noises from last night.

After taking off his tie, the metal detector somehow stopped beeping. He was already through the door when he looked at me and asked, "Light. You're certainly taking your time there, son."

"I'm sorry. I was just amazed that the Japanese Police can afford a place like this," I told him.

Heck, anybody would be amazed. To rent a room in this kind of place would be expensive. But the whole 23-storey building apparently belonged to the task force now.

"We are serious about the fight against Kira. That much is true." Dad nodded to himself as he said it. He seemed proud of this little fact.

"Where'd you get the money for this kind of place?" The damned metal detector still beeped, even when I already emptied out my pockets. Awkwardly, I took off my trousers. Finally, the beeping stopped.

"All in due time, son," said Dad. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you the whole story right here, anyway."

* * *

Ryuzaki, the man mentioned in Dad's grumbling fit earlier, turned out to be a strange, young Caucasian fellow who didn't even look like a detective. He was probably as tall as I was, but his spine was curved so badly that he seemed a head or two heads shorter than me. He had big, black eyes and eye bags as black as his jet-black hair. He also didn't have any eyebrows. It was hard to know what he was thinking or feeling.

"Yagami Light-kun, is it? _Hajimemashite. _I am Ryuzaki," he said, tilting his head sideways.

Like, ew?

I tried to ignore his wiggling toes as I said, "_Hajimemashite. _You can call me Light. I'm Detective Souichirou Yagami's son."

"I see. You're in your freshman year in To-Oh, I hear. Taking up a double major."

"Yes. Political Science and Computer Science."

He smiled. "Then, you are not a force to be underestimated, Light-kun."

All the while, the rest of the task force was either watching me talk with Ryuzaki, or else carried with them trays with coffee cups, bowls of sugar cubes, and pink-and-brown pastries on them.

I fought an urge to roll my eyes. Were these guys serious about solving the case?

"I am grateful that you've allowed me to join in the investigation. However, I truly don't understand why you chose me to…"

Ryuzaki tilted his head in the other direction and bit his index finger. Without hesitation, he said, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt now to be honest with you, Light-kun. We suspected you to be second Kira, and you've been under surveillance for a week or two now."

_What?! _

"Not to worry, though. You've been cleared of all suspicion."

Even dad reacted that Ryuzaki said all these casually.

"Y… you're kidding!" I spat out. "Why would you think that?"

"Light-kun can be second Kira because he may be intelligent and creative enough to pull off the poetics and the strategy used by Second Kira to use the media to find the first Kira. He was also present in all locations mentioned in Second Kira's diary, which was broadcast by Sakura TV upon the request of the Japanese Police. Even though Light-kun is known to be anti-Kira, that could be used as a ruse to trick detectives like ourselves into thinking that you are _not _Second Kira…"

That's… that's a simple-minded way to think about it. Damn. Dad _was _right about Ryuzaki not using his brains.

What the hell is a guy like this doing on the Kira Investigation Team?

He tilted his head. The finger was still in his mouth. "Like I've said before, Light-kun. You've been cleared of all suspicion. The only suspicious activity we saw you perform in your room was hacking into your father's work computer and monitoring the investigation's progress. We have confirmed that you only did this out of curiosity and nothing else."

I didn't dare look at Dad during that moment and said, "I'm glad that you and your team reached that conclusion, Ryuzaki-san."

"Please. 'Ryuzaki' is enough. No need for honourifics," he told me in English, with the most refined English accent I've ever heard. It didn't match his overall appearance, that's for sure. He reverted back to Japanese after that. "Anyway, Light-kun. Do you remember why you were asked to come here?"

"I assume it was about the arrested second Kira suspect," I told him.

"Amane Misa, yes. Do you know her personally?"

I sighed and shook my head. "I've only spoken to her once in my life, and that was during the Kira talks in To-Oh some time ago. She is a friend of one of my, er, ex-girlfriends, though…"

"I see," he said. He called over one of the members of the task force and asked for a jar of strawberry jam. And then he said, "I thought that you'd be interested in this case if you knew her personally. Perhaps I wasted your time here, Light-kun?"

"N-no!" Despite myself, a look of desperation crossed over my face. Damn. I was already _in _the investigation! I have to stay here! "I mean. Ryuzaki, even if I hold no special feelings for Amane-san, please let me join in the investigation."

Again, that weird smile on his face. "Very well. We will allow you to take certain amounts of information from the case," he said.

I swallowed. _It was that easy?_

Later, the task force showed me video feed of Amane Misa in bondage gear. Hearing Ryuzaki's distorted voice, she cried, _"I don't know anything… Please… No more…"_ And in the background, a Caucasian woman holding questionable tools was watching her.

So the Kira case was a lot more messed-up than I thought.

Despite the situation, I grinned to myself. I think I may be able to solve this puzzle, after all…

_- Chapter 06 end - _

_Notes: I can hear it now: "Dammit! You're stalling again! This is even worse because there are no scenes with Kira in it! Where are the clues, you bastard?" Hahaha. Try sitting like Michelangelo if it helps XD_

_I'm so happy I got the chance to write a ditzier Light. "Like, ew?" :D Admit it! Without the Death Note, his intelligence points drop down to 7 / 10 points. Even Namikawa outsmarted him. Hm, maybe equipping the Death Note naturally adds 3 points to intelligence? Haha, then I could sure use one for my studies! _


	7. 07: Lost

**I Have the Right to Destroy **

_Chapter 7: Lost _

_Please… please, just kill me now! I can't take it anymore… I would rather die than go through this torture… _

Ryuzaki stared intently at the screen. Misa-Misa had been there for four days already. She barely ate and drank anything. She looked so pitiful that Wedy found it harder and harder to use mild torture in order to get her to confess.

_Kill me now! You can do it, can't you? I will be happy if you just killed me right now… _

"You would be happy…? Who exactly are you talking to, Amane?" said Ryuzaki into the microphone.

Misa did not answer. Her whole body slumped over and only remained standing because of the bondage. Her face was covered by her hair. She was uncharacteristically quiet for a very long time…

A lock of her hair swung upwards and fell down on her face.

Ryuzaki's eyes widened at this.

And then, as if waking up from a terrible nightmare, Misa's head raised. _Oh my god… _she said. Blindfolded, she looked upwards and said, _Stalker-san? Please, please, please let me go… I don't know why you're saying I'm second Kira, but believe me, I'm not! Please? I'll give you a kiss if you let me go… That's what you want, isn't it? _

Ryuzaki suddenly found himself without a Kira.

* * *

Ryuk watched as Kira wiped off cold cream from his face. Instantly, the fake pimples, blotchy skin, and make-up that polluted his face disappeared. All that was left was the unnatural shine, whiteness, and smoothness of Kira's baby face. "That's a lot of trouble to disguise yourself, kid. But I kind of like it better when you have those pimples on your face. You look more normal."

Kira took off his eyeglasses and black wig. He marveled at his original face. No-one will ever know… "Really? The purpose of this make-up is to look more average, more of a loser so that I wouldn't be found by L's lackeys. But if you think I look better with those pimples… I suppose death gods have a different set of standards for beauty."

"Yep. In the death gods' realm, the fatties are the popular ones. But I don't like them, either," said Ryuk. "Come to think of it… I think I'm the most good-looking death god among them… I mean, didn't you say I looked like Sid Vicious or something? Ku ku ku…"

"You_ are_ a strange one, Mr. Ryuk," said Kira, slightly amused.

"Yeah, even the other death gods think so. Hey, kid, let's float by Akihabara again tomorrow. Buy me a DS, please!"

Kira frowned. "I doubt that we'll still have time to walk to Akihabara again, Mr. Ryuk. You know that we're fighting L."

"Eeeh… I wanted us to have our own DS's, too, so we could fight in Jump Ultimate," Ryuk whined. The death god flipped over and stood on his head. Kira rolled his eyes at this tantrum. _Really, this guy… reading Jump and playing videogames while I'm changing the world…_

Suddenly, Rem went through the wall of the room where Kira resided. Without fuss, she announced, "Misa has forgotten everything."

"She gave up ownership, you mean," Kira replied.

"Yes," replied the death god. "She'll still remember you, though. She still loves you. If you don't rescue her, I'll kill you," she threatened.

He narrowed his eyes at Rem. He didn't particularly like how the death god threatened him, but he knew that he couldn't complain. Kira'd be no good if he's dead, right? Finally, he said, "I know. That's why I told you to make her give up ownership of the note. We'll find a way to rescue her, don't worry."

Ryuk, already done with his tantrum, munched on an apple and asked, "What are you going to do now? Are you going to give up ownership of the note, too? Just say the word, kid."

* * *

Still in the hideous bondage gear, Misa was asked by Ryuzaki, _did you forget about being second Kira? _

"No! How could I forget something I never knew in the first place?! I told you, I'm not Second Kira! Please… I'll do anything if you set me free…"

_Then admit to your crimes, Amane. Tell us how you did it. _

"I can't! Weren't you listening? I'm not second Kira! Please, stalker-san, I'll even try to pee for you… That's what you want, isn't it? You just want to watch me do things that will turn you on!"

_You're lying, aren't you, Amane? _

"No…" Misa groaned. "You're doing this… this illegal thing! Do you think it's kinky? Do you think Misa likes sadists?! Misa doesn't like it, not one bit! They should send you to jail, stalker-san! I hope they give you the death penalty!"

_Death penalty… huh? _

For some reason, after that, Ryuzaki stopped questioning Misa for the day. She imagined the bastard consulting with the police and asking them, _do the Japanese sentence stalkers to the gas chamber?_

* * *

When Matt woke up, a bad taste was in his mouth.

"I thought I was at the forest by a river…" he muttered to himself. "I guess I was just dreaming."

He looked around and assessed his surroundings. He rubbed the space at the back of his head and marveled at how empty-headed he felt. His goggles felt foreign and heavy on his face. He took them off.

The watch told him that it was 6 in the morning. "Just in time for breakfast," he said before fumbling under his bed for some food to eat.

What he felt instead was something leathery. With two fingers, he pulled it out whatever it was and dropped it on himself.

"… notebook… damn it, do I still have anything for breakfast?" he grumbled to himself vaguely. A bar of light from the windows fell on his brown eyes and made them seem redder than usual.

"Ow ow ow. Light," he grumbled. He pulled down the goggles over his eyes. "I guess I shouldn't take that off while I'm hiding out here." More grunts and grumbles for Matt, until he finally fell over the side of his bed and landed on the floor.

There was the stash of chocolate bars he was looking for: Hi-Milk bars by Meiji. He'd hoarded them like crazy the day before in a convenience store. He took one bar, peeled off the wrapper, and stuffed the chocolate in his mouth.

As he munched on his breakfast, he looked around his room and pondered about the emptiness that lingered in his mind. Was it the product of that funky dream he had? Wait, what was that dream again?

The dream, the dream! Ah, there it was. There was fire and water and a long string of words. Floating apples. A genie. Himura Kenshin playing his katana with the Mongolian Chop Squad. Ten cats.

"Matt, you are the angel of death today! You know, kind of like Morty from _Click,_" the great big black cat told him. Except that the cat looked a lot like Neil Gaiman. Except that Neil Gaiman had eyes like an owl and he was eating a bushel of oranges.

"I am? That's amusing," Matt had told the Neil Gaiman animagus. After that, though, he just kind of stared at the big cat. There was something very wrong with the cat, and even in the dream, it didn't seem natural.

Before he could ask the cat whether he had nine lives or not, out of the bushes, a cherry blossom—"s_akura no hana wa itsu kuchiru? Shinda nana no ko noboru koro…"—_started blooming. At the centre of the explosion of petals were the eerie floating heads of Mello and Near.

Except that Mello wasn't quite mellow nor was he yellow, and Near was never queer, just a little bit… clear? Hmm.

"Hi there, Mile," said Mello. "Hey, can I come over and kill you tomorrow?"

"Ah, Mimochka!" For some reason, Matt (wait, why was he Mile today?) started talking to him in fluent Russian. "If you kill me, I wouldn't particularly like it. You have got to give me back my DS juice! Ah, look, the walk-throughs are all over the place," he added, gesturing at the cherry blossom petals.

Mello shrugged. "Okay. You'll die once she gets back." And then Mello's head popped like a balloon. Or he burst like a bubble, more like…

She… she? Was he talking about Linda? Or Death? Matt looked around for traces of Chrissie Hynde, but no cigar.

Near was a bubble-head as well. "Hey, Kurt Cobain," he called. A hand formed from the thin air. The pinky, ring finger, and middle finger all curled towards the palm, the index finger extended, and the thumb pointed upwards to form a sideways L. "Bang!"

Matt's head exploded.

His ear fell next to Near. The last thing he heard was Near's mocking voice, singing _what else could I write? I don't have the right. What else should I be? All apologies._

Ah, that was pretty ridiculous. Even more ridiculous was the fact that he remembered these things. Maybe he was just dog tired from all the action from this whole Kira case.

Speaking of which, if Kira were a videogame, and you can pick between Near, Matt, Mello, and L, who would he pick? L would probably have the most abilities, but he would be hard to use because if Kira found him, then all his HP would be drained by just one blow! Near would have the lowest agility points. Mello would be the easiest character to use because his attacks are strong and he's pretty agile!

Matt would probably have the lowest stats—higher agility than Near, maybe higher defence against Kira than L. (Because Kira would want to kill L first before anybody else.) But Matt would have the weakest attacks, wouldn't he? Then it would be hard to beat Kira…

_Hm… maybe I could make that up with extra equips. Equip goggles, plus 1 dexterity. _

He shrugged to no-one in particular and stood up. He flipped through the notebook, tapped on a specific page, and said to himself, "Ah, now I remember what I was going to do today…"

* * *

"Ryuzaki… I hate to bother you with this again, but I don't think Amane Misa is the one you're looking for," said Light. "I mean, sure the killings stopped yesterday for some reason. But that may be Kira's voluntary action and not necessarily because Misa's confined…"

Ryuzaki tore open a box of Hello Panda as he answered, "When we captured Amane Misa, she was second Kira. I'm sure of it. The evidence says so."

Light looked at him, and then turned to the TV screens. Misa looked _awful_. She grew thinner, and her face started showing signs of emaciation and severe dehydration. Her frizzy, oily hair grew a bit longer after two weeks of confinement. Light could see the difference between her black roots and her bleached-blonde hair. If her head didn't bob every now and then from dizziness, Light worried that she was already dead.

"Ryuzaki… no matter how I look at it, we can't prove that she's second Kira today," Light said.

"That may be true, Light-kun. But she hasn't proven thus far that she _isn't _second Kira. The investigation must continue."

"Investigation?! More like torture!" said Light in annoyance. "Look, Ryuzaki, I know the evidence against Misa seemed damning before, but what do the evidence in her room and on the tapes tell us? I mean those pollen seeds from Nagano, those fingerprints on the envelopes… It just means that she mailed second Kira's videotapes. For all we know, she was only being controlled by second Kira!"

"Controlled by second Kira…" Ryuzaki bit on his finger in thought. "If she _is _being controlled, then it must mean that she should die any second now."

"A… any second now?" said Light nervously. "Why would she die any second now?"

"Light-kun, let's give her five seconds. 5… 4… 3…"

"Wh… what are you saying, Ryuzaki?! Stop it!" screeched Light. Despite himself, he looked up at the screen and expected Misa to fall over and die.

"2… 1…"

Nothing. She was still breathing. Light breathed a sigh of relief.

"Light-kun, you're much too gullible. Please try to take the case more seriously," said Ryuzaki before turning to the screen again.

"… you're the one who needs to take it more seriously…" grumbled Light. He crossed his arms over his chest and decided not to talk to Ryuzaki anymore. That bastard.

Moments later, the door flew open with a _BANG! _Light and Ryuzaki turned and saw a rather frantic looking Matsuda, panting and puffing like he ran the length of the English Channel. "R… Ryuzaki! NHN! NHN!"

Swiftly and gracefully, Ryuzaki twirled a universal remote control like a revolver and turned one of the TVs on. Conveniently, it was already on NHN.

Light had to say, "No way…" upon seeing the title of the news report: _Kira suspect found dead in Tokyo Bay_

A stern-looking news field reporter, microphone shaking slightly in her hands, was saying, _"Following the call of a concerned local fisherman, the police recovered the body of an adult Japanese male. Upon inspecting the items on the person's body, the police discovered that the person was most likely involved in the death and beheading of the unknown Caucasian boy from Chiba, which happened around a month ago." _

Ryuzaki frowned as a police officer said in the interview: _"The body was wearing a back-pack, and inside it was the head of a young boy. Our forensics lab has yet to process this, but judging by the appearance of the boy's face, he seems to match the body we found in Chiba a month ago. _

"_The person also had with him a notepad and a pen sealed in a Ziploc bag. There were markings on the front page of the notepad, and we concluded that the note found on the other victim's body was written on top of it._

"_We have confirmed that the person drowned to death. We theorize that he drowned in an attempt to flee after the incident in Chiba." _

The reporter then said, _"The police are now working hard to identify the identity of the drowning victim. Based on the descriptions of the Japanese Police, the man is around seventeen or eighteen years of age, medium height and build. He has a tattoo of Katakana characters on his belly which reads _shi-shi-o-su. _When his body was found, he was wearing blue jeans, a black t-shirt with The Pretenders printed on it, and a black leather jacket. If you know this man, please contact the Japanese Police immediately through these numbers…" _

The guy's face was shown on screen, and at the bottom were various telephone numbers for civilians to call.

"_Could he be Kira? It may seem absurd to think that this man found at the bottom of Tokyo Bay is responsible for the deaths of many criminals worldwide. However, it may be important to consider that the criminal deaths by heart attacks, in many countries, stopped yesterday. We cannot conclude anything so far, but the role of Kira in these bizarre events is undeniable…" _

"Tsk," said Ryuzaki before pressing the mute button. "That's not Kira, I can tell you that much."

Matsuda's jaw dropped in amazement. "Ryuzaki? Why are you so sure about that? I mean, is this your first time watching this report? The killings stopped because Kira died!"

Even Light shook his head. "Unless the time is significant, it's most likely fake."

Ryuzaki and a flustered Matsuda looked at him. "Really, Light-kun? Are you sure you're not just mimicking me? Please explain in ten words or less," said the detective.

Light whined and decided not to follow Ryuzaki's demands. "Matsuda-san, if you look at the body they showed in the report, you would notice that it already showed signs of decay, which can mean that the guy probably drowned days or even weeks ago. It's possible that it's Kira, but only if Kira can determine the times of death before hand. Even then, I don't think this is the guy. I don't think that the pause in killing and this guy's death are related… although, there's an undeniable link to Kira here."

"And what link is that, Light-kun?" asked Ryuzaki.

Light put a thumb to his chin in thought "Don't you think that the notepad they found in the guy's backpack is strange? I mean, who puts a pen and a notepad inside a Ziploc bag? But it's because of that that the paper didn't degrade, and it made the job of figuring out the note's origin for the police much easier. That, plus the kid's head… It seemed as if this guy made sure that he was implicated and blamed for the beheading incident in Chiba."

"B-but doesn't that mean that the guy was probably guilty about what he did? Maybe he was sorry for breaking the law, but he didn't want to go to jail, so he killed himself instead?" stuttered Matsuda.

"We don't know yet if the guy really killed himself, Matsuda. For all we know, somebody else put those items in his bag before he was killed," said Light.

"Aw." Matsuda sniffed in embarrassment. "But in any case… it would look like the guy was just a victim of something else, not Kira… so why would you say that there's an undeniable link to Kira?"

"I think that it's another message from Kira or Second Kira," said Light.

"What message would that be, Light-kun? There were no explicit written messages with the victim. And the fact that you're mentioning Second Kira troubles me…" said Ryuzaki.

"Ryuzaki. You did say that there's a possibility that Kira had the ability to manipulate events before the death like Second Kira. If he does, then this is his way of saying it. _I can manipulate events before the death like Second Kira. Furthermore, I can kill people by other means than a heart attack,_" said Light. He then sighed, shook his head and said, "Of course, that's assuming that Amane Misa is second Kira. But at this point, I think it's really unlikely. This kind of method fits in more with second Kira's personality than Kira's. I think that the guy responsible for this is the _true _second Kira. And this may be his message for Kira or for L…"

"There's something wrong with your theory, Light-kun," said Ryuzaki. "Why would second Kira send another message to Kira, or to L, in that manner? Second Kira already admitted to Japan that she has _found _Kira. And if she wanted to send a message to L, it would be much simpler to use Sakura TV again."

Light frowned. "Maybe it's because you captured _his _messenger-girl!"

Ryuzaki tilted his head. "If that's true, then second Kira should have just used another person to mail _her _messages for L."

Matsuda looked from one investigator or another and took note of the annoyed facial expression on Light's face, and then the dead fish look on Ryuzaki's. "Uh… guys, don't fight… Light-kun, please put your fist down…"

Light sighed. "Look, Ryuzaki. I can punch you right now, but that wouldn't help. Neither one of us can prove who did this…"

Ryuzaki blinked. "I understand, Light-kun. Perhaps all we need is time to process this development by ourselves. Matsuda, please obtain copies of the report of this incident and send them to us immediately. You are both dismissed," he said.

Light agreed and left the room. Matsuda poured a cup of coffee for Ryuzaki before he left the odd detective all by himself.

Now all alone, Ryuzaki dropped sugar cubes one by one in his coffee.

_This girl was definitely second Kira. _He stared at Amane Misa on one of the screens. She was very much alive, but she was sleeping.

_Today, a man related to second Kira's first message was found dead. Death was not due to a heart attack. This could be an accident, or an orchestrated murder by Kira or Second Kira… _

_Could it be possible that Amane killed this guy during confinement? If she were second Kira, she should have also seen his face… We can't conclude anything yet without the guy's autopsy report. Maybe he died way before Amane Misa was confined… She would still remain a suspect, if that were the case… _

Ryuzaki slurped on his tea. He savoured the sugar granules on his tongue—one by one, they melted into smooth liquid that flowed like a river down his throat. He felt a light bulb floating amicably on his head.

_The key is Shishiosu… _

The feeling of loss gone from his mind, Ryuzaki bit his thumb happily.

_Minotaur… is it?_

* * *

_The meeting place was next to Tama River. It was a quiet afternoon in Tokyo. _

_"Well, I never thought I'd see the day, Near." _

_Near paused from playing with his Gundam action figures and smiled slyly. He didn't turn to see who was there. He didn't need to look at him to figure out who he was. That's a voice he'll never forget, no matter how much it matures. _

_"Mello. You don't need that gun. I have nothing with me that can kill you. Please keep it to yourself. You don't want Giovanni to shoot, do you?" _

_Tension in the air. "Tch." Mello's annoyed grunt. The sound of two guns being put down kept was heard. _

_"You must be surprised, ne, Mello?" he turned around and looked at him. He's not wearing a disguise today, Near mused. "I wonder if you truly believed that I was dead." _

_"That body in Chiba, you mean," said Mello. He shrugged. "Never bought it. I don't think Second Kira will ever be able to kill you. You're too shy, too weak. You don't show your face too often. That's a nice tactic for survival, but you're not gonna solve the mystery that way." _

_"Interesting that you think so, Mello. Does that mean you know in your heart who Kira and Second Kira are?" _

_Near stared at Mello. _

_Instead of answering the question, Mello smirked. "Japan must have softened you, Near. You're using the word heart so freely now. But you're the one who contacted me, so you'd better tell me what's so important that you had to call me out of my busy schedule." _

Busy schedule my butt_, thought Near. "Fair enough." Near put a hand in his jacket pocket. When his hand came out, a small card with writing on the white side was held between two fingers. _

_He tossed it to Mello, who caught it between two fingers, much like a shuriken. _

_It was a photograph of Mello's face. _Dear Mello_ was written on the back._

_"Where'd you find this?" asked Mello with some perplexity in his voice. _

_"You were careless, Mello, as was Matt. After you guys left Whammy's House, I rummaged through the rubble and found a photo album, relatively unharmed by the fire. All three of us had pictures there. Before I left, I destroyed everything with my face on it." _

_"I see."_

_"Don't worry. That was the only picture of you that was kept there," said Near. _

_Mello frowned at him and said, "You lied to me. You told me that you had nothing with you that can kill me." _

_Near smiled. "I didn't lie. Or do you think I can kill you with just your face?" _

_They fell silent. _

_After two minutes of staring at each other (with a tension so anxiety-provoking that the quiet observer Giovanni started to shake in his shoes), Mello asked, "Do you think I'm Kira?" _

_Near answered, "Even if I didn't return your photograph, you wouldn't have been killed by those who only needed a face to kill." _

_"So you do think I'm Kira." _

_The boy started twirling a lock of his hair. He looked very much like a sneaky girl (for a lack of a better term) when he did that. "If I die, then I am sure of it," said Near. _

_Mello laughed. "Don't be so sure about that. There are many other ways to kill you." _

_With that, Mello disappeared into the trees. _

_Near turned to Giovanni and asked him to help him with his disguise again. _

_- Chapter 07 end - _

_Notes: This was entitled 'Lost' because even I was getting lost in the plot. But not to worry, now everything is silently falling to place. :) I hope you've all found who you're looking for in this chapter! _


	8. 08: Silence

**I Have the Right to Destroy **

_Chapter 08: Silence _

_(Light Yagami) _

Amane Misa was confined and put under surveillance by the Japanese Task Force for four weeks. That is, she was put under extreme stress, mild torture, and blindness within that period of time, in an effort to get her to confess about her role as second Kira or as an accomplice of second Kira.

At least, the rest of the task force was hoping that she'd at _least _admit to being second Kira's accomplice—as I've said before, second Kira's messenger girl. If she had just confessed that much, then the rest of us would be satisfied enough to remove her from confinement.

However, we knew that Ryuzaki will not stop with just that confession. He'd only stop when he hears Amane-san's confession: _I am Second Kira. And I killed the criminals in this manner… _And after that, death penalty. Amane Misa would be the poster girl for cute, empowered criminal women on the death row. Ryuzaki is a cruel man, isn't he?

Anyway, it doesn't matter. Amane denied being involved with second Kira in any way. All she admitted to doing was being vocal about her support for Kira. She was awfully cheeky about it too: _I love Kira! I don't love stalker-san… is that what you want? Well if you're Kira then I love you. But you're not… you're an evil man! _

She'd been silent during the first four days of confinement, but after that, she'd been consistent with her answers and behaviour. It seemed to me that she wasn't guilty. Or at least, she's a very good actress.

Outside the second Kira investigation, the killings stopped for two weeks, starting the day before the body was found in Tokyo Bay. After that, the killings started again—a brutal series of criminal death by heart attacks began in the US, and then spread like wildfire to the rest of the world.

Ryuzaki, needless to say, was confused. "Maybe Kira is making fun of me," was all he could tell me. "But that two week silence… that has to mean something, don't you think, Light-kun?"

Confused may not be the right word. _Dumbfounded, _or _up the river with just one paddle. _Something to that effect. He probably got so flustered that he finally gave in to me and my father's demands to release Misa. She was released from confinement, but she was still under strict surveillance—she was forced to live in an apartment in Ryuzaki's tower, and Mogi-san acted as her manager.

"Maybe he went on vacation, Ryuzaki. Maybe he got hospitalized for two weeks and he couldn't get the names and faces that he needed. Maybe his TV got busted, or he ran out of money for the newspaper subscription…" I sighed. There were just too many simple and mundane explanations for the slump, and there was no way to prove anything.

Ryuzaki stared at me. "Light-kun… I keep forgetting that you have limited information about the true Kira case, and all you have are information about second Kira… perhaps it would be wise of you to retreat for now."

"Retreat again, Ryuzaki? You're short of hands now since the Japanese Police withdrew their cooperation. All you have now are my dad's team, a few of your people, and me. Heck, I think I'm being nice enough by helping you out with paperwork when I don't know everything there is to know about this case. Maybe you should just give me more information, then I could truly help out…"

He bit his thumb and smiled at me. _Creepily._ "I won't make it easy for you, Light-kun. I'm sorry. I will be the one to solve this case. I will make sure that you and the task force will see our victory."

Go figure. This guy may be a certified genius that even Dad thinks he's smarter than me, but I don't see it at all. He's got the competitive spirit of a third-grader, I'll give him that.

I shrugged and left him alone in his office. If you don't give the information to me, then I'll find an alternative.

* * *

I went home that night. For a while, my mom was concerned about my sudden leave from university, but somehow my dad smoothed things over with her. So even though I get smothered when I go home, I'm not asked any dangerous questions or anything.

When I went up my room, again I noticed that the doorknob didn't look quite right. When I went in, Sayu was using my weeks-old laptop to play Diner Dash 3. She saw me, and all she said was, "Hi, brother! Home from work? Haha, all you need is a suit and you're a salary man."

I frowned at her. "Sayu, sorry, but I need to use my laptop for tonight. I've got to do extra papers for the classes I've missed," I lied.

"Sure, sure," she said. She pouted as she left my room. She probably knew that I was lying. I guess I have to buy her a meal sometime to keep her from squealing.

I closed the door, locked it, and turned to my laptop. I had some inkling that something will happen to it, any second now, although it could just be me hoping for any contact, or any leads at all, from that guy…

Past 8 PM. Nothing from the laptop. I guess I should be relieved. At least I won't be destroying any laptops today…

At that moment, I heard the chorus of Bon Jovi's _Living on a Prayer _playing from my jeans pocket. I took out and flipped my orange Moto RAZR open and stared at the number.

_Unknown Number _

Uneasily, I answered my cell phone. "_Moshi-moshi._"

"Good evening, Yagami Light." That familiar distorted voice again. "It's been more than four weeks since we last spoke. I hope you recognize my voice."

"Yes, I do," I replied.

"We have much to discuss about the Kira case tonight. Speak with a low voice, for your family members might hear you talking. But do not hesitate to say exactly what you have to say. We have plenty of time for our discussion. I have taken measures to prevent anybody from eavesdropping into our conversation."

"All right."

"What have you found out so far from working with the task force?"

I took a deep breath and told him everything I knew: from Amane Misa's capture, her sudden shift in behaviour during confinement, the drowned man in Tokyo Bay, the pause in killings, and finally, Amane Misa's release from confinement.

After my report, he said, "I see…" and fell silent for a while. After the pause, he asked, "You worked with a man called Ryuzaki, did you not?"

"Yes. He's not a member of the Japanese task force, but he's the acting leader of the group," I said.

"Did you meet him in person?"

"Yes."

"Did he share his theories with you?"

"Yes."

"What did he have to say about the Kira case then?"

I paused. _Ryuzaki, you arrogant guy, you. _Despite myself, I smiled sneakily.

"Yagami-kun, that's a suspicious smile on your face," he told me.

I looked around my room. So there were bugs and cameras all over the place? I wonder how long this guy was watching my sister play Diner Dash 3 on my laptop.

"It's nothing. I'm just gathering my thoughts. I find some of the theories absurd, you know." The thing is, Ryuzaki, I probably don't need to repeat your own theories for you. But if you're contacting me like this, I have no choice but to play along. Why go through all the trouble with this voice distortion anyway? I already know what you sound like…

"Then, please," he said.

I put two fingers on my forehead as I tried to remember all that Ryuzaki told me. "First off, he said that Amane Misa is second Kira, and that second Kira cooperated with the first Kira after meeting him or her. Misa's confinement and the pause in killings are related in some way, but it is not yet apparent _how. _

"The death in Tokyo Bay was not a new message from Kira or Second Kira. Rather, it was part of the original message—that is, the death in Chiba. Second Kira's full message was that he or she can kill with just the face. Furthermore, he or she can manipulate events before the death, and he or she can kill with other means than a heart attack. This is confirmed because the autopsy report of the drowned man revealed that he died shortly after the Chiba victim's heart attack.

"Ryuzaki's third theory is… well, it's why I smiled to myself, I guess." I laughed vaguely. "The general assumption is that Kira and Second Kira kill using supernatural means. That's understandable enough, but I think his theory is just hard to swallow…"

"How do you mean, Yagami-kun?" asked Ryuzaki.

"It just… sounds forced. He thinks that Amane Misa _was _second Kira, but sometime during the capture, she gave up her power to kill, which is why her behaviour suddenly changed. This is also why she's not second Kira anymore, and why Ryuzaki agreed to 'release' Misa."

"… I see. Why do you think this is absurd?"

Ryuzaki was probably getting a bit defensive now. I shrugged to the hidden cameras and said, "It seems… _too convenient. _It's possible, but I'm not believing it until I see proof."

He laughed. With those damned voice scramblers, he sounded like a B-movie monster, or else a creature straight out of a Hannah-Barbera cartoon. "Ha-a-a-a-a-a!" As I listened, I can't help but put on an offended face.

"What's so funny?" I asked him.

"Pardon me, Yagami-kun. I understand why you think Ryuzaki's third theory is absurd. But personally, I'm more than ready to believe it."

"Really now," I said. Figures that he'd try to float his own boat…

"Ryuzaki wouldn't say anything absurd, unless he felt that it was necessary. I suppose we can drop the discussion about second Kira for now. Have you witnessed any investigations about the first Kira?"

I looked upwards in thought. "Come to think of it… all I've seen Ryuzaki do are all related to second Kira, up until the 'pause' in the killings. I don't know how intensely they're investigating Kira because I've been assigned with office work—statistics in the criminal deaths, surveillance in the tower, all that—and I didn't find anything out of the ordinary…"

"… as expected," he muttered to himself. (I wonder if he said that out loud on purpose.) "His behaviour about this case has been apt. And you saw nothing out of the ordinary."

"Yes. I understand that he's worried about leaks, but I don't think that's the only thing he's worried about," I told him. _Ryuzaki, do you think I'm working for another person? Or are you just worried that I'll disprove all your theories, and you'd have nothing to go on anymore?_

_Or maybe… I'm wrong about you? _

"That is true," he said, finally. "Yagami-kun, thank you for your efforts in this investigation. For that, I will give you more information about the Kira case."

Really? What kind of information? I waited for him to elaborate.

"Ryuzaki and the rest of the task force are knowledgeable about the primary suspects in this case, but of course they are not allowed to discuss these things outside their circle. Now, tell me, what do you know about Kira's identity? The demographic data, at least?"

"Let's see… all I know is that Kira is from England. I have no idea about the age, gender, or even occupation… but the general assumption by the public is that he's male. My guess is that if he has an unnatural hatred for crime, he also probably works in law or the police, or he has ties with them… maybe relatives or friends in the task force?" I shrugged.

"Friends with a detective?"

"Something like that," I said.

"Interesting, Yagami-kun. Sadly, it is more obvious now than ever that Ryuzaki has been keeping you in the dark about plenty of things. Well then, in return for your hard work, I will reveal some information about the Kira suspects."

Some? Just _some, _but not all? But it's Ryuzaki. I suppose I shouldn't complain. Considering his behaviour, this must be a great accomplishment.

"First of all, there are three suspects. All of them are male, and are aged 13-15 years. They were students and schoolmates back in Winchester, a city in England. Following the destruction of their school, they informally dropped out and separated some months ago. When second Kira made his first appearance in Japan, they transferred here. They are now scattered in different areas in Tokyo."

"They're… young," I said weakly. Kira is a teenager? I'm a teen too, but I can't accept that the world was put under the mercy of a guy younger than me.

"What do you think, Yagami-kun? Is it too… absurd for you?" he said.

I smirked. "I'll believe you for now. You'd be wasting your time if you're lying to me," I answered.

"But you're thinking something else, Yagami-kun. Please share your thoughts with me. They are important for the investigation," he told me.

Those cameras must be damned expensive if they noticed my behaviour to that extent. "If you say so, L. I have a feeling that you know these suspects personally."

He paused. "How did you come to that conclusion?"

"The suspects themselves are rather unexpected—I mean, who would ever think that Kira could be a thirteen-year-old? Also, there's the fact that they came from the same place. For Kira to do everything that he's done so far, he must not have been an ordinary student. These three must not be ordinary students—in other words, the school in question had to be unique in some way. The only reason why you would suspect them is that Kira did something that only these three children could have done, and it may be something that you yourself witnessed. It's the only reason why you are so sure about it. And that's what you're hiding from me, isn't it?"

"…" I imagined him tilting his head sideways and biting his fingernail in that creepy manner of his. "Brilliant deduction, Yagami-kun. I suppose it's useless to deny that fact now," he answered.

Bull's eye.

"Forgive me, but I do not wish to elaborate on the exact reason why these three are the suspects. Just trust me that Kira could only be one among the three of them."

"I understand. Who are these three, anyway?"

"Unfortunately, there are no existing images of them anywhere. Their names are also hidden—they go by the aliases Matt, Mello, and Near. I cannot give you any other information about them."

I frowned. Strange names, except for Matt. Who would call himself Near? I've never heard of anybody calling himself by a preposition.

"We have enough information to say that currently, all of them are in the Kanto region of Japan. For a time, it had been extremely difficult to track down their movements. We still have no clue as to how the killings are carried out."

_For a time, _they had difficulty tracking down their movements. So it means that it's been an erratic surveillance, and now it's less difficult? I wonder… "So have any of them made contact with Amane Misa?"

He didn't answer immediately. "Yes."

"Given that, you failed to make conclusions on which of them could be linked to her as Kira?" I asked incredulously.

"I have my own theories, Yagami Light, but even with Miss Amane's role in the Kira case, there is still no critical evidence against her or of those Kira suspects whom she had attempted to make contact."

Kira suspect_s_?! She _talked to all three of them?!_

L elaborated: "My spies were able to find her in situations where she saw two of the suspects face-to-face. Furthermore, we have reason to believe that she made attempts to contact the other one, but it seemed that she failed. However, take note that it had been extremely difficult to identify these suspects because they constantly move, evade, and change appearances from time to time. We cannot say whom Amane-san had made most contact with."

There's more to Misa than meets the eye, apparently. No wonder you just won't let her go… I am sorry that I doubted you, Ryuzaki. "Why would Misa try to make contact with all three of them? Have you considered the possibility that these three are working together as Kira?" I asked.

"I've considered that possibility before, Yagami-kun. Let's just say that if all three of them worked as Kira, two of them would have died already, while the last one prevailed as the so-called _god of the new world_."

I guess I can trust him on that. They sound like crazy kids.

"As to why Amane-san tried to see the faces of all three suspects… I can only guess that she was following orders from one of them. If we assume that she is truly second Kira, all she needed to be able to kill them was to look at the suspects' faces—the fact that they hid behind aliases would not be significant anymore."

"Kira," I said. "So she was ordered to kill the two other suspects…"

"… yes," answered L. "It would have been the worst way to discover Kira's identity. We are fortunate that Amane-san seemed to have lost her power to kill now."

"I have another question, L. You said that you had difficulty tracking them down _for a time. _So does that mean that you're monitoring their movements more successfully now?"

"I am not sure if that's the way to put it, Yagami Light. Yes, my spies are successful in tailing them, but that in itself is suspicious."

"When did this happen?" I asked.

"During the pause." The distorted voice ended with an echo of apprehension.

* * *

_(Kira)_

_Evening. As the last spots of orange in the greying sky vanished, I was engulfed in the deafening sound of crickets, the starlit darkness, and the cool evening air. In a small patch of forest by Tama River, the darkness seemed intimidating. _

_Finished with the hole I dug on the ground, I stabbed the trowel I brought with me on the soft earth. _

_"You're not used to things like this, huh, kid?" said Ryuk. _

_"I'm not too keen on getting my hands dirty," I told him. I took a flashlight from inside my jacket pocket and shone the light inside the hole on the ground. A brown shoebox sat quietly with bits of roots and small stones. _

_I took the box from its place in the hole. From the moment I lifted it and felt the lack of weight inside, I knew that something happened. _

_"… empty," I told Ryuk. _

_He cackled. "You were right, kid. As always. You even saw through the shinigami. I'm impressed." _

_I smiled and pushed my newest pair of spectacles up the bridge of my nose. The fake attachment of my nose remained intact as I did so. "It doesn't matter, Mr. Ryuk. Everything is going according to plan."_

_"That guy you saw in the university, huh," he said. "Just remember the rules, kid. One slip and it's all over." _

_"I'm not the type who slips, Mr. Ryuk. You've been with me for half a year now. Have I ever been unreliable?" _

_All he did was laugh in response: "Ku ku ku". His eyes flashed like the taillights of a car. His teeth glowed in what seemed to be anticipation. _

_- Chapter 08 end - _

_Notes: Heavy dialogue between Light and L. Take note of the details, kids. If you're serious about it, take down notes. You'll discover something interesting. Wink._

_If you need a break from all the 'studying,' go to Youtube and look for Point Break's music video entitled "You". And together, let's dance the dance of death! XD_


	9. 09: Chocolate

**I Have the Right to Destroy **

_Chapter 09: Chocolate_

A sidewalk in Aoyama, 4:30 PM.

Mello rubbed the side of his hand against his sweaty brow. As drops of salty water slid on his face, he imagined that the world was melting. Summers in this country were truly warm and humid. Times like these, he missed the chill in England.

That day, he was a bit truer to himself than usual: he wore a slightly tight-fitting dark purple shirt, dark skinny jeans, black flip-flops, and wayfarers. No wig, just his hair up in a ponytail. He only wore make-up to cover up the huge burn mark on his face, but already he feared that the foundation was canyoning, or else was melting off of his face.

He quickly eyed the crowd floating aimlessly by. Yes, she was still there, one of L's spies. Misora—that was her name, wasn't it? That girl Amane Misa said that the name she used to introduce herself was an alias.

_Just like 'Mello,' right? _She added with a vague smile.

Mello turned around and headed off for a convenience store. Once in, he relished the air-conditioned coolness and the no-fuss white lights. A nothing and nowhere place to hang out.

He took a shopping basket and put in many boxes of Meiji chocolate bars. Black, Milk, Hi-Milk, he wanted them all. He also got a few boxes of Hello Panda, Pocky, Yan-Yan, Hershey Bars, and a random bag of potato chips whose brand name he didn't even check.

He went towards a wall made entirely out of refrigerators. He looked at himself on the glass doors' reflection.

Good. The make-up was still doing its job.

He noticed her again. It was hard distinguishing her from all the other Japanese women with long dark hair, small dark eyes, and normal height, but there she was. Her unremarkable appearance, her diligence, and her ability to fade in the background all made for a good spy…

Not good enough, unfortunately. Mello opened the refrigerator door, took a carton of chocolate milk, closed the door again, and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

_I look rather devilish with a ponytail, _he thought to himself.

He didn't have to worry about being followed today.

* * *

An unnamed tower in Tokyo, 4:00-6:00 PM.

L ate a slice of chocolate cake that Mogi made for him. It was moist, yes. Chilled in a refrigerator for at least forty-five minutes, yes. Three layers, lots of icing in the middle and around it, yes. Hibiscus-shaped flowers were drawn on the plate with chocolate syrup, yes.

_But… it's not quite sweet enough, _he thought to himself in slight disappointment. He didn't complain to Mogi anymore. He was a good enough sport for agreeing to bake things for L. Now the guy was arranging the case files of all the criminals who died within the past week. He shouldn't disturb him.

His focused his eyes on the numerous TV screens before him:

Screen 1: Amane Misa. She had just come home from work today, which was a photoshoot for Cosme, a Japanese cosmetics company that hired her to model for their newest lipstick. Currently, Amane was struggling out of her knee-high boots, which had more shoelaces than necessary (or humanly possible, L thought).

Screen 2: Yagami Light and Matsuda Tota. They were in a separate office from L. Light reviewed episodes of Kira's Kingdom on Sakura TV, while Matsuda was carelessly flipping through the channels of local TV, in hopes of finding something relevant to the case. L doubted that these two would find anything dramatic. Every now and then, the two of them took out their cell phones and answered calls and text messages. Nothing to worry about, though. No-one would be able to track down their exact locations in this building.

Screen 3: Wedy, one of L's trusted spies. She was at some place outdoors. Part of a leaf occupied a small corner of the camera's field of vision.

Screen 4: A blurry image of Matt, one of the Kira suspects. Wedy said that she'd worked hard to find out where in Tokyo he was currently staying. Simply put, it didn't look like a classy place at all. It may be the slightly cooler air outside the house, but Matt was sitting on the steps outside, smoking a cigarette and playing with his DS. He had on his goggles, too. He didn't look too comfortable, sitting outside… At around six o'clock in the evening, he went inside the house again.

Screen 5: Yagami Souichirou and Aizawa Shuichi. They were studying weeks-old tapes of the Kira suspects, back in England and a few from Japan—at least, the few moments where Wedy was sneaky enough to catch them on tape. L also doubted that the two officers would find anything new, as he had memorized every movement

Screen 6: A shaky image of Mello, walking along the business districts of Tokyo. It looked like he was in the middle of shopping. He nonchalantly carried with him three plastic bags of chocolate, chocolate milk, and a bag of potato chips, which he all bought from the convenience store. It was hard to get any more details because this was from a camera installed on a button on Misora's handbag.

L frowned. _You two are being too obvious, aren't you? Either your teachers at Whammy's House taught you sloppily, or you are reacting to Amane's loss of memory…_

* * *

A room in an unknown building in Tokyo, 5:47 PM.

Using stacks of empty boxes of Meiji milk chocolate, Near played with his robot figurines. Pew pew pew pew. The black robot gets the pink one, right in its power source. Lasers all around. Now the white robot sends them to their doom with a wild array of nondescript plastic missiles. Vroom… badaboom! Now empty robot carcasses floated randomly in space, never to be controlled by humans ever again…

_Bip bip bip… _

Near attached a device that would scramble his voice at the cell phone's bottom and flipped it open. "Oh, it's you. I didn't know you had it in you to call me like this," he said.

He listened to the voice for a long time and didn't say anything. After a long, silent processing of information, he nodded and said, "Thank you very much. You have been helpful. I understand how stressful it is. Please continue, even though people are watching you," and then hung up without another word.

He then turned on the television. It was time for the six o'clock news. _How many people has Kira killed today, I wonder…_

* * *

A room in a run-down building in Tokyo, 6:42 PM.

In Matt's adventures in the business districts today, he discovered something interesting: instant chocolate rice mix. The Filipinos called it _champorado, _apparently. Matt was usually conservative when it came to chocolate—that is, he would usually eat milk chocolate bars without nuts or nougat or peanut butter or anything weird in them.

But he was in a strange mood today, that he was. And cooking _champorado _seemed to fit that very mood.

The time on his phone was 18:42, which meant that the six o'clock news on NHN was already half-way through. It was time for the news anchor to announce Kira's Japanese casualties for the day.

"30 victims today, huh? All of them guys, too. Not bad, not bad. Could be better though," he muttered to himself. He laughed. A puff of smoke from his cigarette floated around his face.

_Ah, sorry about that, L. The smoke must have made it difficult for your cameras to see my face for, like, two seconds there, _he thought.

Yeah, it was pretty hard to see, but he knew that there was a chick somewhere, watching his every move. It's been getting harder and harder to avoid L's spies, but he knew there was nothing to worry about—at this time, at least. All he had to do was to act natural, maybe put on a disguise every now and then and dodge the cameras, and then they'll get sick of him.

He mindlessly stirred the chocolate rice porridge as he continued listening to the news report.

* * *

A booth in Blue Note Café, Aoyama, 8:20 PM.

Takada Kiyomi was exactly twenty minutes late for her date. She was probably being irrational when she worried that he'd be annoyed at her by this time, but she only wanted this date to be the first among many. He was a pretty interesting guy, after all. And the fact that he's a senior who's interested in a freshman like her was another nice thing to think about.

As expected, he was already there. He looked up when she arrived. He smiled at her and urged her to sit down.

_Oh, good, he's still game, _thought Kiyomi in relief. She sat across him. From her point of view, his glasses shone blue light and hid his eyes pretty well.

"You look good tonight, Takada-san. Nice touch with the Chocolate University shirt," he said.

"Thank you, Mikami-san," she said sheepishly and grinned at him. She was right to dress simply at the Blue Note. This was the type of café where people stood out more when they looked good in just a shirt and jeans. It wasn't the type of place where she imagined he'd want to hang out, but heck, he still looked good in a plain black shirt and blue jeans. Other guys would look like bouncers if they dressed like that, but he still managed to look dignified.

"Do you know any of the performers tonight?" asked Mikami. He flipped some of the black hair hanging over his face, which threatened to cover his eyes.

"No, I'm afraid I'm not too familiar with rock bands… I think I know Nightmare, though… I think they performed in campus that one time. How about you? Did you come here especially for one band?" she asked.

Mikami laughed and shook his head. "No, actually, I know nothing about rock."

Kiyomi tilted her head in curiosity. "Then… why did you pick this place?"

He shrugged in response. "I find the people who hang out here are rather interesting, Takada-san."

* * *

An unnamed tower in Tokyo, 9:00 PM.

Yagami Light pressed a button on the DVD player's remote, which stopped the Kira's Kingdom rerun from playing. As was warned to him beforehand, there was nothing to see in the episodes—it was worth as much as a noontime variety show, just less appealing because of all the senseless Kira worship. He made a list of suspicious-looking audience members, like professionals and university students who did not fit in with the rest of the fanatics. These he sent to L. After that, there was nothing to do…

Why Ryuzaki assigned him to such a dreary job, he had no idea. Perhaps it was a ruse for the other detectives working on the case as well? Yes, Ryuzaki hinted at that, didn't he? "I will make sure that you and the rest of the task force will see our victory." It would be extremely discomforting for his dad if Ryuzaki gave heavier and more dangerous assignments to Light, after all. Maybe that's why the guy found it necessary to relay information to him in other ways…

He stretched out his arms and stood up.

"Where are you going, Light-kun?" asked a rather bored Matsuda. He was assigned to watch news shows from Japan and all around the world. It seemed to be the same old thing: a list of Kira's victims would be shown, but apart from that, no news anchors dying or messages from Kira. The murderer didn't seem to deviate from his normal routine.

"The toilet. I've been holding it in for a while now," Light answered.

Matsuda had on his face an _okay, too much information _kind of facial expression. "Okay. Hey, would you like some hot chocolate when you get back? I'm going to make some for myself."

_Hot chocolate? In the summer? I think he's been hanging around Ryuzaki too much, _thought Light to himself. "No thank you, Matsuda-san. I'd appreciate iced coffee, though."

"Okay, if you say so," replied the detective. He stood up and started humming Nightmare's _Alumina _as he got a couple of coffee mugs from a cabinet in the corner of the room.

_This guy is better at making coffee rather than doing detective work. Seems to enjoy it a lot more too, _thought Light in semi-amazement before leaving for a much-deserved bathroom break.

* * *

The same unnamed tower in Tokyo, 9:16 PM.

Amane Misa was stretched out on her couch and was watching Animax. It was a bit early for bedtime, but she was already dressed in her sleeping gear: a tiny black nightshirt and long, striped socks. Hey, it's been a long day. The shoot lasted for _7_ _hours, _and they told her and Mochi that they had to go back to the studio the next day.

She sighed and reached out for a plastic bag on the coffee table. It had around five bars of Meiji Black chocolate. Mochi had mistakenly bought her these instead of the Hi-Milk ones that she asked for, but she told him that it was okay. _"Eighteen Magazine _says that dark chocolate has less sugar and more phenylethylamines, so they're less fattening and they will make Misa-Misa happier!"

Of course, she didn't know what PEA's were, or whether _Eighteen _was just making it up or not. She'd have to research it on the internet later, she decided. Mochi was just glad that he didn't have to go to the convenience store again…

Ah, this is the life. Chobits and dark chocolate. Misa almost forgot that that creep Ryuzaki was probably watching her as she watched TV…

_"I am looking for the person only for me…" _

Misa wept as she listened to the soft voice of Chii floating over the strange, unknown story book. As she sobbed, she furiously bit into the chocolate bar. The PEAs didn't work as much as she had hoped.

* * *

Two days later. Outside Yellow Box Studio, Shinjuku. 4:35 PM.

Mogi Kanzo carried with him two shopping bags and a canvas bag filled with Misa-Misa's clothes, shoes, and make-up. Some of them were freebies from the Cosme people, while others were the things that Misa brought with her "in case they make me wear icky clothes again."

Amane Misa had just posed for the last few photos that Cosme needed for their print ads. She took off her platform step-ins and changed into flip-flops. "Mochi, I'm really tired. Are you driving me home, or are we waiting for Matsu to get here? What did Ryuu-chan tell you?"

"Misa-Misa, I'm sorry. He told us to take a cab and meet with Matsui somewhere else," answered Mogi in a low voice.

"Mou… how annoying," grumbled Misa. "I better get a raise…"

_You don't get paid. In fact, technically, you're under probation… _thought Mogi, useless as it was to think those sort of things to himself.

They waited outside the studio for the cab that Mogi called. Traffic around this time may be bad. He wondered how long they had to wait there. Hopefully, the cabs get there before the fans do…

A motorcycle approached them. The rider wore a red helmet with a tinted face-shield, and an all-black attire.

Mogi's senses heightened. "Misa-Misa—" he yelled out, but at that moment, his vision got clouded with smoke.

Amidst the hissing of a smoke bomb, he heard a shrill scream, which was muffled the next moment, and then the sound of a motorcycle speeding away from him.

When the smoke dissipated, all that was left of Misa-Misa were her bright pink flip-flops. They lay useless and upside-down on the sidewalk.

Forcing himself to clear his head, Mogi pressed a button on his belt. He can only hope that Ryuzaki had somehow seen the kidnapping from the tower.

* * *

Misora Naomi had on a white button-down shirt, blue jeans, a pair of eyeglasses, and wore her long dark hair in a bun. She had with her a paper bag filled with groceries. To the rest of the crowd, she was just another passer-by, a perfectly average Japanese woman who just realized that a traffic accident had just taken place. She just hoped that this new disguise of hers would be enough to fool that guy…

She looked at the bloodied motorcycle rider. The guy's limbs were broken and useless. A doctor who happened to be in the crowd confirmed that he was still breathing, but he'd lost a massive amount of blood. He still called for an ambulance, but it was clear that the guy had no hope.

"Poor man… but he was going too fast," muttered one of the people near her. Like Naomi's disguise, she looked like another housewife who also came from the grocery store.

"I guess even the helmet won't save you if you go too fast," answered one of her friends.

_No… this looks too convenient, _thought Naomi. _Are you Kira? Could you have been responsible for this? It seemed that you were here by chance, but this could be according to your plan._ From her peripheral vision, she saw the suspect moving.

_Where's he going…? He's calm… but he's definitely moving with precision… _

Misora narrowed her eyes and made sure that her button camera, despite its lack of power for details, captured the suspect's every movement. This may very well be the slip that L's been waiting for…

* * *

_(Kira)_

_Ashes, bones, and a number of other particles that I'd rather not know suddenly appeared over the ground where the death god Rem used to hover. I was a bit surprised when that happened. It was an amazing sight. _

_"So… that's how shinigami die," I muttered to myself. _

_I walked over to where the ashes were. Everyone was too busy gawking and gasping over the bloody motorcycle accident. I can't blame them—strangely enough, Rem managed to make the accident itself seem quieter than it should be. By making the motorcycle crash in an empty alley, she managed to avoid witnesses during the accident, and allowed Misa to escape more cleanly. _

_(Although I could hardly call it 'clean'—the girl was bloodied all over and probably had injuries that required immediate expert medical attention.)_

_Her transformation into ashes also happened in a hidden place. The only reason I found her remains was that I saw her as a shinigami before it happened. _

_"Eh. I wonder why she'd do such a stupid thing," I muttered as I picked up her Death Note and calmly put it inside my bag. _

_The only sensible explanation was that the speeding motorcycle was bound to get into an accident, and Misa would have died in that accident. That shinigami, she can't bear to watch Misa die, even if Kira or L weren't responsible for it. Rem must have saved her by specifying in the Death Note that the motorcycle rider be the only one to die. That would extend Misa's lifespan just fine, but that would set Rem's lifespan to zero. _

_Well, I shouldn't complain. I'm damned lucky that I happened to be here today. Ryuk is with my pawn now. Now I have another weapon to replace my old one. I just have to find a way to meet with my shinigami sometime soon…_

_L… your Second Kira is gone. You've been quiet with me for a long time too. I know that you're preparing for another confrontation, soon… ideally, with everybody who mattered being there. _

_Face-to-face. I've talked to you before, right L? But face-to-face, that's the only way to go. You'd better make this good. _

_- Chapter 09 end - _

_Notes: Chocolate? Why chocolate? It's because… I like chocolate, that's why! :) Anyway, I'll make the notes more helpful this time, so please read this particularly long one:_

_I hope that my intentions for this story are clearer now. The question is not exactly, "Who is Kira?" per se, although that was the only question back during the earlier chapters. Now that there are more tangles, you have to answer the following to have full bragging rights: _

_What is Near's role in this story?_

_What is Mello's role in this story? _

_What is Matt's role in this story?_

_I'm making a post in brain-eater-jr dot tabulas dot com, which will contain a very short list of clues or hints that you deserve to know. If you want a challenge, then don't go to the website. In any case, if you're really serious about solving the mystery, you still need a lot of thinking. Haha! _

_I'm aiming for just thirteen chapters, by the way, and that already includes the epilogue. The revelations will probably start from the next chapter onwards. Put on your seatbelts, kiddos! Were you right about Kira? You're gonna know soon. _


	10. 10: Strategy

**I Have the Right to Destroy **

_Chapter 10: Strategy _

_(L) _

Amane Misa got into an accident. Her body was not found at the crash site. There was a bloody set of footprints leading away from the scene, which faded before it reached her destination. In other words, she escaped from us.

The rider who died was a man without an ID. No-one knew who he was. It's likely that he was hired by somebody to kidnap Amane.

One of the suspects witnessed the accident. Could this be his doing? Could he have been the one responsible for the kidnapping of Amane? Or could he have been the one who killed the guy?

No, it's unlikely that he killed the guy. The face wasn't seen, the name was unknown. Furthermore, all he did during the accident was to watch. This 'watching' couldn't have been the method of killing, could it…?

"Amane's phone was destroyed during the crash. She also managed to find the tracking device on her body. She took it off somewhere along this area," reported Wedy. She pointed to a spot very near the scene. "Since nobody was able to notice her, she might have gotten some help, or she must have put on a disguise…"

"I see. Misora-san, did you notice where she could have gone?"

She shook her head. "I… I'm sorry, L. I thought that the suspect's behaviour was much more suspicious, so I tried my best to observe his movements rather than see where Amane-san headed…"

"What did you find out?"

Misora pressed some buttons to control the video that she took of the suspect's actions. She paused to a frame which showed him ducking behind a dumpster. "There. While people were contacting the police and an ambulance, he was hiding there."

I squinted. I pressed play, and the pause again. The image was very blurry. All of us in the team leaned in closer to the screen.

"What's that black thing he slipped into his bag?" asked Light.

"It's a bit floppy… it looks like a small envelope…" muttered Souichirou.

"It looks like a manual of some sorts," said Aizawa.

No. I zoomed in and enhanced the image in my mind. Amongst the mess of pixels, I guessed that there were horizontal lines on the white paper side of the object. "An ordinary notebook…" I said, after a long moment of analysis.

_A notebook. So, it's true… _

The members of the task force groaned. "That's it? He ducked behind the dumpster for an ordinary notebook? And he picked it up while there's something much more exciting going on! Gee, that guy's weird," said Matsuda in exasperation.

With that gleam of suspicion in his eyes, Yagami Light turned to me. "Ryuzaki. What do you think of this?"

I bit my thumb. There's no way that the suspect picked it up out of a whim. He may not be responsible for the death, but he must have witnessed the murder and not just the accident. "… that has to be it. That notebook must be related to the death of the motorcycle rider."

Everyone looked at me incredulously.

"A notebook… but how?"

"We have to get that notebook to know for sure. Wedy, can you steal it for us?"

She looked at me with unease. She hesitated as she said, "Of course I will try my very best, Ryuzaki. But as of now, we've lost him…"

"He's moving suspiciously fast," I said, nodding to her. "Steal the notebook if you can, but assume that he could kill you with just your face. It would not be good if he manages to kill you, as he can manipulate your actions before death and make you reveal things you shouldn't."

"You think that he has second Kira's powers? I thought he's a Kira suspect?" asked Light.

"Safety first, Light-kun. He might have gained second Kira's powers without our knowledge."

Everybody nodded. "A notebook related to death… what would you call it, a death note? It sounds like a terrible horror story," bleated Matsuda with a look of befuddlement.

"It has been a terrible horror story from the start, Matsuda," answered Souichirou in solemnity.

Well said, ex-Vice Chief.

Minotaur. You slipped. This may be the start of your downwards spiral.

* * *

Amane Misa has disappeared. There's a good chance that she'd been killed off by Kira already. In any case, it would seem that there's no way for us to find out where her body was.

Kira's killings were shameless. The numbers rose. More and more petty criminals and ex-convicts died from heart attacks, along with serious offenders. He seemed drunk with power. He might not be afraid to start judging those who aren't convicted of anything yet.

Misora and Wedy had so far done a good job of confirming our suspicions of everyone. I knew that I have to make a move soon. I have to reveal my face to Kira, and I had to make sure that it's truly him. I have to find out how he uses the notebook. Disable him. And make sure he never kills again.

Kira's goal was to kill L, and then everybody else by his method—any other method would mean that he lost. The other two's goal was to solve the mystery. Rub Kira's defeat to his face, and then "disable him. Make sure he never kills again."

If any of them succeeded, they would have beaten me. They would have surpassed L.

Well, I'm the grown-up among them. I'll give them a chance to beat me.

In any case, in order to solve this case, we need to find out all we need to find out about Minotaur's new notebook. Wedy had just told me that it was impossible to steal the notebook, even though he flaunts himself around... for some reason, Wedy thinks that it isn't with the suspect anymore.

I'll have to use another trump card, then.

I pressed a button labeled 'N' on my desktop and waited for an answer.

* * *

"L… I did not know you had it in you to call me like this," said Near. He seemed to be in a quiet place when he answered my call. When he spoke to me, he didn't feel the need to distort his voice in any way. "Am I finally off the Kira suspects list? A hundred percent?"

"From the beginning, you were the least likely suspect. I am confident now that you aren't Kira," I told him.

"I doubt that. But even if you still suspect me, it doesn't change the fact that I am not Kira, and that you would be wasting your time if you choose to continue on pressing me about it," he answered.

Typical Whammy's House student response. We were trained to assume that certain individuals always lie. You are a good student, Near.

"We had a deal about information sharing. That is, there's no guarantee that I'll give you the truth. Why did you contact me this time, L? I wonder if it has anything to do with the failed kidnapping of Miss Amane?"

"I know that you have better means of surveying Matt and Mello. On that day, were you watching any of them?"

"Unfortunately, no. We found trouble that day. I only found out about the whole accident afterwards through our spies. I was about to use another one of mine to dig out more information from you."

I rubbed my thumb against my gums. I never knew that he found that particular spy so… useful. I underestimated him. "No need for that. I will give you pertinent information about the Kira case, which was obtained from that incident."

"Really? And what do I need to do in exchange?" he asked nonchalantly.

"I doubt that you can, or you will do anything in exchange," I answered.

He fell silent. I heard a soft tapping noise. Perhaps he just put down one of his toys on the floor. "This is very unlike you, L. I don't know if I can trust you."

"This may surprise you, Near, but at this point, all I want to do is to stop Kira. Whoever can do it between the two of us doesn't matter. You always had the advantage because you knew Matt and Mello better than I do—you were much more able in predicting their movements. I think you will be the one to win in this game."

"Are you hinting at collaboration instead of competition, L? You know I'll refuse."

"So refuse. I'm the one with the information, not you. I doubt you can trust your spy with this," I told him.

Again, silence. "All right. I'll listen," he said after a few moments of thought.

I grinned and ate a sugar cube. "All right. You know who the suspect in question is, I suppose."

"That would be the person you labeled _Minotaur, _isn't it?"

"Yes. He was there when the accident itself took place. I will send you a video that my spy took of him."

I sent the file and allowed him a few moments to watch the clip. As he watched it, I heard more tapping noises. He was probably thinking really deeply when he saw his comrade's blurry pixels moving on the screen. "What's that he took from behind the dumpster? Do you have an enhanced still of this frame?" he asked.

I sent the file in question.

"A black notebook…" Mindlessly, he added, "I've seen that before…"

Near has seen it before?

"Yes, I'm pretty sure of it… both of them had notebooks like that," he answered.

"Both Mello and Matt?"

"Yes. I didn't put much meaning on it during the time. Everyone in this country has notebooks like that. But now that I think about it… I know that I've seen them holding those notebooks during different times," he answered.

"When?"

He paused in thought before saying, "Matt had one before Miss Amane's confinement, and Mello afterwards. Based on my spies' reports, none of them were seen writing things in it. The notebooks just seemed to be among their possessions."

"Were your spies able to take photographs or videos of them with the notebooks?"

"No. Like I said, there didn't seem to be anything special about those notebooks. I won't be surprised if Matt or Mello just happened to have them for no special reason. Back in Whammy's House, Matt always wrote his cheat codes in notebooks, and even during this Kira chase, he still played video games. On the other hand, Mello is the type who's meticulous enough to take note of important events and to write down his plans. Also, for some reason, even before he left Whammy's, he has a lot of contacts in the outside world…"

A-ha.

"L, if I may guess your theory, you think that these notebooks are related to the kidnapper's death. Either the notebook contains a message from the person responsible for the death, or the notebook itself is the tool for killing."

I smiled as I said without hesitation, "Yes."

Another moment of silence. I ate a banana to fill the void.

"If I may ask, L… what's your next move?" he asked. It wasn't obvious, but I could tell that there was some cautiousness in his voice.

"I plan to have a rematch, of course."

"A rematch?"

"Between myself and Kira. This is the main reason why I contacted you, Near," I told him. I tossed the banana peel over my shoulder.

"You're… asking me for a rematch?"

"No. I'm asking you to arrange it."

Whether Near is Kira or not, he would follow this particular order. He knows that it is necessary. His final victory depends on it.

But with Near, that little liar, I know there's more that he's not telling me. I'll have to wheedle this information out of Light-kun later.

* * *

_(Near) _

L just asked me to arrange his rematch with Kira. It means that I had to find a way to gather all of us together in one place, where we could meet face to face: L, Mello, Matt, and I. I knew that it was impossible that all of us be completely alone during that meeting. I would cheat if that were the condition. So we've no choice: we have to let Kira have his weapon ready.

"This confirms it, Commander Lester, Halle. _Minotaur _obtained another Death Note," I said.

Lester nodded at me seriously. "Do we do anything about it, Near?"

"Unfortunately, we can't. Stealing this new notebook would be too risky; even though the chances that he has them are low, we do not know if he has second Kira's powers. We also do not know whether he has other pawns or not."

Halle swallowed nervously and asked, "So, what's our next move?"

As I spoke, I continued putting dice one on top of the other. "We have to find out more about these notes through Mikami. That's one."

Giovanni was successful enough in tailing Mikami Teru, a To-Oh University student whom we believe is Minotaur's pawn. Thanks to his good spying skills, he was able to capture images of Mikami using the Death Note and its immediate results. Furthermore, he was able to capture all the pages. This is where I have an advantage over L, Matt, and Mello: I know all the rules of the Death Note by heart.

"Next, we have to find a way to let our intentions for a rematch known to everyone. L is right; it would seem that the SPK is the most able group to arrange this meeting. That's two."

Yes, it would seem that way. One among Mello and Matt was convinced that I am not Kira. And one among Mello and Matt was convinced that I am L's pawn. In any case, they would agree to such a meeting. As long as all of us are given enough time to plan our moves, this would not be a problem.

"Finally, using all we know about Mikami's Death Note… we set a trap for Kira. That's three.

"But, as always, our problem is time. To carry out this plan seems premature. Ideally, we shouldn't move unless we confirm how many pawns Minotaur has with him. Also, we have to know whether Amane Misa is dead or alive. We can probably confirm the first one, but as for Amane… it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible. There's a good chance that she's under the protection of the Death Note. But if she's dead, then it may have been manipulated in such a way that her body is not found. We have known Kira to be clean when it comes to this.

"If Amane or a pawn other than Mikami finds his or her way to this rematch… we're as good as dead."

I waved my hand towards the dice tower I just created. My little dice skyscrapers fell to the ground.

Lester nodded nervously. Halle had that silent, eagle-eyed expression on her face. I know what they're thinking: there's a really big chance that this plan will fail. If that happens, then the world will be at the mercy of Kira.

I turned around and looked at my guest in the eye, who was standing next to Halle. "So… Yagami-kun, it is thanks to you that we know of the Death Note. If you hadn't included Mikami on the list of suspicious Kira's Kingdom viewers, we wouldn't have had reason to tail him. Given that I've explained to you everything else you need to know about Kira—that is, _Minotaur—_what do you think? Should we go ahead or not?"

Yagami Light shook his head. When he spoke, his voice was uneasy. "Ryuzaki's fear is that if we let Kira have his way any longer, then he would find more pawns to manipulate. He would find it much easier to find all of us and kill us. And now that you've confirmed that he obtained another Death Note, I think he's right. We have to take this risk. We have to find a way to bring Minotaur down immediately."

I nodded. "Yes, I'll have to agree with L on this one too. It seems that we only have one shot at this. Commander Lester, let's show Yagami-kun our new place."

Yagami's face instantly looked perplexed. Lester pressed some buttons on his computer. The image of a warehouse flashed on the multiple screens.

"This may be the ideal place for the rematch that L wishes. Yellow Box, a warehouse located on the Daikoku Wharf. We bought the entire property just in case anything like this happened. There is only one entrance. With this and the right conditions during the meeting, we can be assured that Kira will not have many weapons at his disposal."

"How could you say that?"

I twirled a lock of my hair as I assessed Kira's personality and estimated his knowledge. Yes, I'm right about this. "Kira doesn't know our true names, and thus will definitely need Shinigami eyes to kill us off. I am sure, because he hasn't killed me or the other guy yet, despite seeing us face-to-face in different occasions. And I know that he would never make the eye deal. He would not give half his lifespan if he could manipulate other people to do it for him."

"You know Matt and Mello that well," Yagami said doubtfully.

"L thinks so. I think he would know," I replied coldly.

"So when do you plan to have this meeting?" he asked.

I looked up the ceiling in thought. "We'll probably need… three weeks."

"Are you sure that's not too soon, Near?" asked Lester.

"Giovanni needs enough time with Mikami to make this work. Three weeks is the minimum," I told him.

Lester nodded nervously. Yagami, on the other hand, had an incredulous look on his face. "Three weeks? I think that's a bit too long. It would be enough time for Kira to find another pawn. Mikami might just be sacrificed before that time, and we'd end up with no-one…"

"I doubt that those two, or even L, would agree to anything less. The best we can do is to keep surveillance. I think it's likely that Kira has noticed that we have eyes on Mikami—this is precisely why we need Gevanni to dig into the Death Note a little deeper. I wouldn't be surprised if there were lies in there to throw us off. If Mikami is killed off, it would just make it easier for us to track him down. No, we need to give even Kira enough time to create his game plan. We'll just have to make sure we outsmart him."

Yagami looked at me with unease.

"What's the matter? You don't think we can do it?"

"I… I'm sorry. I'm not as confident as Commander Lester or Miss Ridner. I… I really don't think we'll win…"

He looked so scared that Halle put an arm around his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. I frowned. This is why I don't like people who aren't hardened by police work yet. They're too… _emotional_. I'll need to psych him up for this…

"I guess L never told you this line before…" I began.

"What line?"

With my usual deadpan expression, I pointed a finger at him and said, "The good guys always win."

I hated having to say that, but it certainly lifted their spirits. Yagami smiled at me and said with confidence, "Yes! L, I believe what you say. The good guys will also win this one!"

I can't believe they fell for that cheesy line. "Please don't call me L. I only borrowed his identity so that you'd spy on their investigation for me," I told him.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, but to me, Ryuzaki is Ryuzaki and Near is L. I suppose I've just gotten used to it," he said.

With the same deadpan look, I said, "Don't look forward to the day that I become L. It would be the day that L loses."

And, sad to say, I didn't want L to lose this battle after all. Mello was right; Japan had softened me. I don't even recognize myself anymore.

_- Chapter 10 end - _

_Notes: That's one suspect down. Near might have made a great Kira, but I doubt that I'm capable enough to write him as Kira. He's too damn smart, and he's a worse cheater than both L and Light. Haha. I also think that I made Light too much like Matsuda here, except that he's more insightful. Sorry for the character bastardization. That's to be expected of bastards like me. Hahaha!_

_So, which one is it, Mello or Matt? Place your bets, kiddos!_

_And, hurray for cheesy lines XD_


	11. 11: Storm

**I Have the Right to Destroy **

_Chapter 11: Storm_

11:30 PM, Mikami Teru's dorm room, To-Oh University campus.

He sat on his desk, his head slightly bent forward over a microscope. The room was dark, save for the bar of white light from his desk lamp and the small blue lights from Mikami's CD player, which played a jazz song composed by Deodato softly. If one enters the room, it would seem as if he were cramming for a lab report for biology class.

But he's a senior, and he's a Political Sciences major. Isn't that rather suspicious? Well, he may be doing it for his girlfriend then.

However, his girlfriend's a Mass Communications major. But then again, she's a freshman who had to finish some natural sciences units. A microscope in a dorm room is pretty strange and extreme, but if you think of it that way—that Mikami was doing it for his girlfriend—then it would make sense.

It was 11:45 PM when Mikami lifted his eyes from the microscope's eyepiece. Mechanically, he took his cell phone from his desk, pressed a button, and waited for an answer.

"… _I have confirmed it."_

* * *

Matt had rented a room above a café in Shinjuku that week. It wasn't exactly a big space, but he knew that it was an okay place to stay because it wasn't hard to find. And he knew that contact was necessary at this time.

That morning, he went to the kitchen in search of breakfast. He opened a ratty-looking cabinet, got a bag of potato chips, and nonchalantly threw them on the counter. It slid as it should, but the action produced a horrible hard-plastic-against-the-floor kind of sound.

He saw that the potato chip bag was on the floor. He picked it up and found a cell phone underneath.

"Eh?... a Moto RAZR… and it's turned off," he muttered. He fumbled with the power switch. It instantly went to life.

Two seconds later, a polytone version of _All Apologies _by Nirvana started playing.

_Unknown Number. _He pressed _answer _and waited for the other person to speak.

"Matt. You are cordially invited by L to a dialogue. The meeting is of due importance to the progress of the Kira case. Please come by yourself in the Yellow Box Warehouse on the Daikoku Wharf, on this date and time... we will send you photographs of the venue through this phone, for your own purposes."

_They've made their move… _Matt smiled.

_So, L… you're going to show your face to us. Is catching that Kira that hard?_

* * *

Mello pressed 'Hang Up' on the phone and with just one gloved hand, crushed it. Pieces of the phone fell on the ground. The plate on the SIM card was scratched badly.

_A face-to-face contact, with Kira and the rest in one place. L has made his move, and Near is clearly assisting him. Only he could have reached me like this… _

His mouth formed into a manic grin.

The next moment, his own phone rang. He took it out, looked at the name warily, and answered it.

"Hey there. How's my favourite blonde?" he said.

He was silent as he listened to the voice on the phone. For a long time, he closed his eyes, as if in deep thought. Suddenly, the excited mania on his face disappeared. There was only solemnity when he opened his eyes again.

"I am the only one who can do it."

Before the person on the other side had time to air out her confusion, he ended the connection.

The scar on his face stung for no reason at all.

* * *

On a bench within the To-Oh University campus, Takada Kiyomi sat with her feet up. A thick, paperback Zoology text book was on her lap, and inside it, she wrote down her notes diligently in a plain black college notebook.

"Hi there."

"Oh!... uh, hi," she said, looking a bit flustered. For some reason, a foreign exchange student was seated on her bench. She didn't know how long he was there, but she found it strange that she didn't notice him immediately because he sat in such a peculiar way.

"You're Miss Kiyomi Takada, aren't you?" he asked in English.

"_Hai_… I mean, yes, I am," she answered.

It was hard to determine any form of emotion from his dead eyes, but he seemed to brighten up when she confirmed it. "Oh, I am honoured, very honoured. I've heard things about you… you're a popular model in Japan, and in this university, don't they call you Miss Todai? Ah, I'm glad that I found you here on campus… you truly are a sight to see," he said.

In an attempt to avoid his gaze, she looked at the space above his head. It was a bit hard to recover from her nervousness. She swallowed and said with an uneasy smile, "Thank you very much. I am honoured that you think of me that way. So, what's your name, sir?"

He made a cat's paw and lightly hit the side of his head. "Oh, how rude of me. I am simply known in Tokyo as Mr. Hideki Ryuga."

"Ah… you're Japanese as well?" she asked.

He laughed. It sounded like a soft wheezing. Kiyomi had guessed that he was an unhealthy man because of his complexion, and at that moment, she was worried that he would cough out some unpleasant things from his mouth. "Actually, no. I'm English, but I have a mother who's part Russian, French, German, Slovene, Polish, and Canadian."

"I… I see."

Ryuga looked from side to side suspiciously. "Between you and I, Takada-san… my name isn't Hideki Ryuga. I just stole it from a Japanese gossip magazine." The way he said Takada-san, it was apparent that he was able in speaking in Japanese.

Nevertheless, Kiyomi wisely chose to stick with English. "Ah, that's a relief. My friend Hideki would be confused if he found out that you share the same name," she said, forcing a joking tone in her voice.

Ryuga nodded. He looked really creepy with that smile on his face. "Yes. Would you be interested in hearing my true name?"

Kiyomi forced a polite smile. "Of course I would be interested, sir!"

"It's… _Daniel Radcliffe." _

Kiyomi laughed. "Seriously? You're making fun of me again, Mr. Ryuga. I watched Harry Potter, you know."

Ryuga tilted his head to one side. "Ah, I'm sorry. I guess I shouldn't underestimate Miss Todai. Very well, since I want to have a date with her, I will tell her my real name."

Kiyomi tilted her ear towards him as he leaned in closer to whisper, _Watashi wa Eru desu _

She paused for a while, closed her eyes, and then laughed out loud. "Ryuga-san, to say that in the Kanto region is a bad joke. And you are an outrageous liar, too! You should just show me your school ID so I'd know your name, you know."

Again, he tilted his head, that same creepy smile of his never leaving his face. With two fingers, he pulled out a small card out of his jeans pocket and handed it to Kiyomi.

"Ah… you are… Rue Ryuzaki? Oh, you lied about not being Japanese!" She extended her hand. He shook it.

"So may I go out with Miss Takada?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't have the chance to tell you, but my boyfriend may not like it," she said bashfully.

"Aw…" he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Very well. I am just happy to be introduced formally to you, Miss Takada. I hope to see you in campus." He waved at her and walked away. It was only then that she noticed that he didn't have any shoes on.

"So… I was right."

Later that day, she took out her phone from inside her blazer and checked. Yes, this photo of his ID would do just fine. She then searched for 'Teru' on her phone numbers list, and pressed _Call_.

* * *

"Giovanni… your report, please."

Giovanni's determined face occupied one of the screens in the SPK's headquarters. There were no traces of exhaustion or hesitation on his face as he said, "It's intense, but I can finish this within five hours." He gave a thumbs-up sign for extra assurance.

Near nodded. Around his area on the floor were pieces of wood, a cutter, glue, paint, and finished finger puppets. Currently, he was working on a male finger puppet with brown hair. He was messily circling dark rings outside its eyes with a black Sharpie. "Thank you very much for your hard work."

Picking up a dark-haired finger puppet with the likeness of Rue Ryuzaki, he told everyone in the room: "Everyone. Let's do our best."

* * *

That morning, L received an urgent call from Wedy.

"Ryuzaki," she began. It seemed that she was out of breath when she made the call. "I have to see you in person immediately. It's an emergency."

He raised the part of his face where his eyebrows were supposed to be. "What is it, Wedy? What have you been doing?" he asked.

With a slight tremour in her voice, the spy replied, "I… I stole the suspect's wallet."

"… is it with you now?"

"No. I d-don't have my helmet on now. After doing what you told me, I dropped it somewhere on the highway."

"What happened to your motorcycle?"

"I jumped off… it's probably at the bottom of Tokyo Bay right now."

"… I see." L paused to sip a sugary cup of coffee in contemplation. "I can see your location from here. Well then, I will ask Aizawa-san to pick you up wherever you are. Thank you very much for your hard work."

* * *

Yellow Box Warehouse, 13:00 hours.

The last person to arrive was Matt. He wore a striped shirt, jeans, and trainers—no attempt at a disguise at all, except perhaps for the goggles over his eyes. Lazily, he walked in with his hands in his pockets and a cigarette in his mouth.

He eyed the so-called 'teams' already there. Noting the serious looks on their faces, he asked, "What's up, people?" with some amount of sarcasm on his face.

He faced the small boy, all clad in white, on the floor. Besides members of the SPK, around him were finger puppets arranged in a weird way. They were clearly meant to be the characters in the so-called rematch between Kira and L. "Dude, what's with that crazy mask?" he asked.

"It's my L mask. Do you like it?" asked Near, also with some amount of sarcasm in his voice.

"Ah. It's not bad, just kind of ugly." Matt took out his cigarette and used it to point to the tall, dark-haired person next to Near. "So I guess it means that this cute guy over here is L, isn't it?"

Ignoring the 'ugly' and 'cute' remark, Near replied, "You are correct."

"Hn. Nice to finally meet you, L. You've no idea how long I've waited for this day. Say, you're much younger than I thought. I imagined you to look more like Dr. House than Morpheus from The Sandman."

L stood in a peculiar way next to Near. One look at this guy, and one would say that he fit the mold of a Whammy's House student. Behind him were members of the Japanese Task Force and a woman who didn't seem to be one of them. Ah, yes, that's the Japanese woman who followed him around from time to time.

With wide eyes, L told Matt, "It's very nice to meet you too. You look very different from the last time I saw all of you in Whammy's House."

Matt grinned at him. "Thanks. I hope you meant it in a good way. Ah, hey there, Mello. Long time no see, buddy. You're awfully quiet over there," he said.

Mello, who sat by a stack of boxes at one of the darker corners of the warehouse, frowned at him. "I'm just waiting for the pleasantries to end, that's all," he said. Like Matt, today he wasn't wearing a disguise. He was wearing what he liked—black leather and silver crosses. There was no make-up to hide the scar on his face.

He shrugged. "Eh, you're PMS-ing as always, but you're right, Mello. Hey, Near, you sent me that phone, right? You said that it's a dialogue with L, really important for the progress of the Kira case. You guys are pretty weird when it comes to contact, so I'm not even gonna ask about the warehouse when we could have just rented a conference room in a hotel or something. So… how do we begin?" asked Matt, as he faced L.

L bit his thumb and said, "… we cannot begin immediately. We have to make sure that Kira is not within the premises."

"Ah," said Matt. He exhaled a cloud of smoke from his nostrils. "I guess it would be bad if we all dropped dead from heart attacks, huh? So that's why Near's got that ugly mask on. Why don't you have one on, L?"

L shrugged. "I'm a bit more confident about this than Near."

"Well, if you say so… How do you propose we eliminate the presence of Kira among us?"

"We wait, of course," said L. "Let's say… thirty minutes. If no-one dies within that time, let's assume that no-one inside Yellow Box is Kira."

Mello made an annoyed grunt and took out a chocolate bar from his trousers pocket. As he unwrapped the chocolate, he said, "I don't know how that would help, but it's your game, L. This is beginning to sound like a big joke."

Thirty minutes of silence passed, but not painlessly. The first five minutes were occupied only by the merciless crinkling of the aluminium foil wrapper of Mello's Hershey bar. The rest of the time, no-one moved. The silence was so intense that the sounds of their breathing and the dripping of sweat from the nervous members of the Japanese task force and the SPK amplified tenfold.

"… R-Ryuzaki, Near, everyone… thirty m-m-minutes has passed," stuttered Matsuda. Apparently, he had been tasked to use the timer.

"Thank you very much," said L.

Mello exhaled noisily and stood up. He went towards the center, where everyone else was bathed under a circle of bright light. "See? Apparently, no-one among us is Kira. So I _guess _we can start the dialogue now, L. Whatever the hell that means to you."

L shook his head. "I'm afraid it's not enough, because one among us has a mask on," he said. "Near, please take off your mask now."

Near looked at him, shrugged, and took off the mask. "There. Happy?"

"Yes. Let's wait a little bit more…" said L.

Mello quickly snapped, "What for?"

"For the person who would solve this case for us."

Matt groaned. "More waiting? And this time, for some magical mystery chap who has the answers to _everything?!_ This is senseless. Damn, I knew I should have brought my PSP along... I could have trained my generic characters in Final Fantasy Tactics, instead of wasting time like this. Do you know how rude it is to make people wait?"

L widened his eyes unnaturally and stared at Matt. "I apologize if it's rude. However, the outcome of this dialogue is more valuable than etiquette," he replied.

The gamer shrugged, put his hands in his pockets, and looked at everyone in the room. "Ah, at least introduce me to everyone around here. That's a good way to fill in fifteen minutes, right? Aliases would be fine, of course."

L looked at Near, who nodded. "All right then. The three behind Near are the members of SPK: Commander Anthony Lester, and agents Stephen Giovanni and Halle Ridner."

Matt whistled. "Whoa, Near. Where'd you meet these guys? Did you go to America and hire them just to solve the Kira case?"

"Roger introduced them to me before. They are special agents hired by L to assist me after I graduate from Whammy's House. I managed to contact them, and together we formed the Special Provision for Kira," replied Near.

"Eh… I don't have special agents. Do you, Mello?"

"No," replied a sour-faced Mello, but without a trace of his usual fiery emotion. "I don't know if it was L's intention, but these agents were reserved for L's successor. Since Near was number 1 during the time, he had the privilege to meet them ahead of time."

"Ah, L, maybe it's not your fault, but that's really crappy. Outright, shameless favouritism. You should be ashamed of yourself," said Matt with a dull tone.

The older man shrugged.

"So, who are those guys behind you?"

"A few members of the Japanese Task Force, and an independent agent whom I've had the good fortune to work with," replied L.

"Heh… you show your face to those guys, but it took you _years _before you show your face to your successors…" Matt sighed. He threw the lit cigarette on the floor and allowed it to burn out by itself. After a long silence, he said, "How important are we to you, anyway?"

L didn't answer.

"Nice answer. Watari, at least, had the balls to show himself to us…"

"And look where he is now. _Invisible_," said Mello.

A silence ensued after that. Whether it was out of solemnity, nervousness, or mockery was questionable.

Matt laughed bitterly. Through his goggles, he seemed to glare at L. "Forget it, L. I'm only here because you asked me nicely, but I give up on you…"

Mello ignored Matt's drama and asked, "How long do we have to wait, Near? You seem to know more than L…"

Near smiled evilly at him and simply said, "He's here."

Silently, everyone turned towards the single entrance to the warehouse. From the small crack of the open door, a single eyeball, glowing red, looked back at them.

* * *

_(Teru Mikami) _

Everything is as God had planned. Now, the fate of the world lies in this worthless disciple's hands… with this notebook, I will smite them and save the world from evil. In the name of Kira.

I looked at their faces. Those worthless worms looked back at me with helpless looks on their faces. They're like cockroaches the moment before you crush them under your boots. They deserved to be eliminated.

But their faces can wait. My eyes focused on the twitching numbers floating underneath their names.

_… God spoke…!_

Mihael Keehl was the only one without a lifespan.

I needn't restrain my ecstasy now. I cried out in joy as I stared into God's face. After regaining my strength, I opened the notebook and wrote down their names.

At that moment, a storm arrived, perhaps in tribute to Kira's cleansing of the world. It begins again.

* * *

_(Mello)_

The storm was terrible. The noise enveloped their surprise effectively. That chicken-shit Matsui could have screamed, and no-one would have been distracted.

Somehow, Near mustered up enough power from his lungs and shouted, "To the one outside… Are you finished with what you are doing?"

The guy outside didn't answer.

Matt smirked. "That guy's not gonna answer to a guy like you, Near. Here, dude, are you finished with that… whatever it is?"

"… yes," he cried, in an attempt to overpower the sound of the rain.

Near looked up at Matt. "He responded to you," he said.

Matt shrugged. "I'm much cooler than you, I guess."

Near rolled his eyes and turned to the crack in the door again. In Japanese, he said, "Mikami Teru. I know that you're in charge of Kira's killings right now. You have a Death Note, right? You've already written down the names, so there's nothing to be afraid of. Please come in. Or did Kira order you not to come in?"

There was somebody who was supposed to be speaking up at this time. I looked at him. L remained silent as he watched the door. The expression on his face was…

_'Afraid.' _

"So… Teru Mikami, is it? Stop hiding and come inside. It'd be bad if you got water all over the Death Note."

My words did it. That pathetic fool Mikami stumbled in, with a tremendous grin on his face. Why are you looking at me like that? It's not over yet.

"So… Mikami. How long has it been since you wrote down the first name?" asked Near.

Mikami, with a manic glint in his eyes, looked at his watch.

_35… 36… 37… 38… 39… _

"Victory is mine, L."

Upon hearing this declaration, Near smiled evilly. L only looked back with nothingness in his eyes.

_- Chapter 11 end –_

_Notes: The random scenes at the beginning do not happen in chronological order. _

_Some of the conclusion appears in the next chapter, but it seems that the whole ending will happen in chapter 13. Sorry about that! Lots of truths will be explained in the next chapter, though. _


	12. 12: Mello

**I Have the Right to Destroy**

_Chapter 12: Mello_

It's mysterious, how the final seconds of your life can stretch out to abnormally long intervals. Mello knew that he wasn't going to die at that moment—like everyone else, he came in there with a plan. But for some reason, when he closed his eyes during the thirty-ninth second, memories flashed underneath his eyelids like firelight.

For him, it started after the burning of Whammy's House. Back then, he didn't guess that Kira was the one responsible for Roger's death, and that the burning also served as the annihilation of all physical evidence (such as DNA, medical records) that could be linked to any of children from Whammy's House.

_I have to say it: I'm impressed, but... I knew it was you from the very beginning. You kept your mouth shut for once. I knew that it was good that you were so careful, because that's the only way that Kira would succeed. Sadly, you were with someone who knew better. _

That conversation was more important than any of them realized. It was the moment that Kira challenged not only L, but Near and Mello as well. '_Kill me if you can. Let's see who'll beat L.' That was what you wanted to say to us, wasn't it, Matt? With you, it's always all about games._

Mello left Whammy's House with chocolate, a few guns and an address book, which he hid in a toolbox under his bed. Luckily, they were intact and nobody knew that they were there. Before he was taken to Whammy's, he was given a list of people to go to in times of trouble—these were the ones who had transportation, who can give fake IDs and passports, and whom Mello could ask for money as he needed.

(He also found one of the photo albums in the rubble, which had a number of his solo shots. In mild panic, he tried to set them on fire. He succeeded, but some of the fire got to his face. He resolved not to give in to moments of stupidity like that again.)

As a result, he was in London in no time—he knew he had to get away from Matt before he figured out how to get his true name. He knew that it was worthless, of course. He was probably just buying time to figure out what to do next.

_Who knew that my new weapon against Matt would be in London at around the same time? _

_I guess I'm just a lucky bastard._

* * *

It happened like this:

Without a disguise on, Mello was in a café, reading the newspapers for more reports about Kira and L. They were playing the Red Hot Chili Peppers' _Desecration Smile _over the speakers. A cup of hot chocolate was on his table. Its aroma floated around his nostrils like a pleasant song to a pair of able ears.

At that moment, an incredibly small girl walked in the café. She sat at a small, round table next to his booth.

As a waiter approached and took her order, Mello discovered that she was a foreigner, based on her accent. Maybe Japanese, because she found it difficult to distinguish her _r's _from her _l's. _

After the waiter left, she looked at Mello and saw the newspapers on his table. Without hesitation, she hopped up to him and said, "Borrow newspapers?"

Mello, not wishing any more attention, gestured towards a pile of broadsheets that he'd finished reading. The girl smiled, plopped down at a seat in front of him, and began reading.

_Is she trying to be cute? _thought Mello in annoyance. He tried to ignore her and concentrated instead on a news article about Kira's last famous victim: a prominent politician in Japan who was accused of raping an elementary school student. _Strange that Matt would kill somebody like…_

His thoughts were interrupted by a clapping noise. He put down the newspaper and glared at her.

She stopped. "I'm sorry. I just feel happy because of Kira…" she said with an honest smile on her face.

Mello's eyes widened. With the ugliest snarl that he could muster, he said, "A Kira supporter, are you?"

The girl gasped. Her smile faded, and she only looked back at him with uncertainty.

"You shouldn't support bloody scum like that. Kira doesn't deserve his power. He's the death of justice," he said. (He wasn't afraid of making her cry, that's for sure.)

With watery eyes, the girl fell silent, as if she were seriously contemplating on his words. After awhile, she raised her head and simply said, "I love Kira… I do not want to listen to people say bad things about Kira." And then, silently, she slipped her hand inside her glittery black handbag.

_What's she doing? Something's... unnatural, _thought Mello. With a frown, he reached out and easily grabbed her bag from her.

The girl gasped stupidly again. She held a very small pen in her hand. Mello looked inside the bag and saw an open notebook. He pulled it out and read the open page:

_Mihael Keeh _

His eyes widened. What was most of his name doing there? "Hey you. How did you—"

When he looked back at the girl, he saw that a great winged beast made out of bones was floating behind her and was glaring at him.

Mello wanted to scream and curse at the sight, but the girl jumped on the table and put a hand over his mouth before he was able to. In Japanese, she squealed desperately, "Please don't scream! I can explain!"

Desperate for presence of mind, Mello put the notebook inside his own bag and grabbed a gun along the way. He let the girl see what he did, but hid it from the rest of the café.

The girl bit her lower lip and said, "Rem will kill you if you kill me. Please let me explain everything later…"

Mello narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but he nodded. He decided not to question the apparition anymore. _That thing looks like it can kill me if I do anything suspicious. _He gently took her hand off his mouth and replied in Japanese, "There's an inn called Momos not far from here. 7 PM. Come by yourself, explain everything to me, and maybe I'll give your notebook back to you," he said.

The girl nodded. When she saw that he didn't let go of her hand yet, she blushed.

… _what's the matter with her now? I don't like that smile on her face. _Mello let her hand go.

She got off from the table, bowed bashfully, and went out of the café, not even bothering to wait for her order. The monster flew next to her as she left. It gave Mello a dirty look before they disappeared.

After that was the meeting in the Momos inn, where Mello asked Amane Misa to work with her to defeat Kira and rule the world with her Death Note. Perhaps it was due to his luck or alternative fashion sense that Misa believed that she fell in love with him, and thus easily agreed to whatever he said.

"Kira judged the person who killed my parents… everyone knows that, and everyone knows that I love Kira because of what he did for me and my family! So please… Misa can do whatever you ask me to do!" she had told him.

_So, she's ready to lie to everybody, even to Kira himself. Can I trust this woman, I wonder, _thought Mello. It was only their second meeting, but apparently she was ready to abandon her loyalties to Kira and to risk her life along the way for him.

It was the beginning of the beautiful relationship between Second Kira and Mello: one of the biggest threats against Kira.

* * *

"Ah, Mimochka-chan doesn't have photos of K, N, or L?"

"No, they're too careful to have their photos taken by anybody," answered Mello. "It would be difficult to find them, too. K, especially—he looks like everyone else and is good with disguises." Yes, that's another one of Kira's dangerous features: his unremarkable features. Unlike Mello and Near, who had dangerous eyes and other distinctive features, Matt looked like everyone else. Without his goggles, his face is a blank canvas. With his wigs, clothes, and make-up, he's a chameleon.

"_Honto… ano,_ would you say that K looks like that purse-snatcher over there?" said Misa, nonchalantly pointing at a young boy running away gleefully with a handbag that was obviously not his.

The boy had longish brown hair in a bonnet, wore round glasses and a striped shirt, and had freckles all over his cheeks. He also had a cigarette hanging from his lips. Mello tilted his head and nodded. "Actually, I would… but K probably looked less distinct."

Misa looked at the frown on his face. "Mimochka doesn't enjoy crime either, huh? Say… do you want me to write it down?" she asked.

Wheels started turning in his head. Now that he had a weapon, all he needed was a message for Matt, Near, and L. "Mimi, I'd like you to write down more for me this time," he said.

"Anything for you," she said gleefully.

_Now to put my talent for poetry in action, _he thought.

* * *

_Labyrinth of steel and light,__  
Amongst the startling stones, you thrive:__  
Jaded by the children's blood spilt in your name__  
Altered by the fear of the new world  
Embraced by the greed in your enemies' eyes _

_Verify it with your face, Nihilist!  
__Eyes as wide as yours command the death of Death  
Send in your beasts to eat me_

_I will be there so catch me,  
Minotaur:_

_Kill me, kill you__  
I will not drown in the  
River of death  
Alone _

A poem for everyone included in the game: _Labyrinth, Nihilist, Minotaur. _L, Near, Matt. When the first letters of the lines are read and arranged, it would read, LAJAE VES IM: KIRA.

_Mail Jeevas: Kira. _

Yes, he knew of Matt's name ahead of time. All Misa had to do was to see his face, and he could have easily been killed.

_Minotaur's death, orchestrated by the actions of Theseus. _

But Mello wanted to make sure that he won not only against Kira, but also against L and Near. This is why, at the last moment, he asked Misa to write in, "Smears the poem, deems it unrecognizable, and only leaves the first line and the last two lines readable." He knew that if Matt died too early, the blame for all the killings would naturally go to Mello. And it would be much simpler for Near and L to capture him and Misa. The only way was for Misa to see Near's and L's faces and kill them all at the same time.

"Or at least get rid of L and Matt at the same time… I can beat Near by myself," said Mello. "So you have to make yourself obvious to both L and Matt. Can you do that?"

"I've an idea! I can send a message to Sakura TV and tell them that I want to meet Kira. Both of them would use that to find me… All I need to do with Matt is to see his true face, right? He won't be a problem… and if L is good, he'd be the one to find me, right, right? And if I see his face, all I have to do is to write his name down in the Death Note…"

"If they capture you and make you unable to write, then what?" asked Mello sternly.

Misa fell silent.

Mello sighed. "Rem… is there anything we can do to make sure that the Death Note remains hidden from L?"

The shinigami, without fuss, said, "If you're talking about a defense tactic for when Misa is captured by L, there is a way… and that is, if Misa gives up ownership of her notebook. However, if you do that, all her memories about killing with the notebook would be erased."

"See, Mello… our secret would be safe. Matt-chan worried about the same thing, and told me to do it if I get cornered by L," said Misa. "Let me do this."

Mello, with his scary eyes, looked at the girl and the shinigami. "Misa, you're good at acting, right?"

Misa nodded. "I told you, I can lie to everybody else but you," she answered.

After a long period of thought, Mello looked up at Rem. "Rem… is it against the rules for Shinigami to lie?"

* * *

"It's no good, Mello," said Rem. "She still has the shinigami eyes, but the man called Ryuzaki doesn't show himself to her."

Mello frowned. The final piece of the puzzle wasn't there yet.

"I can kill Ryuzaki, Kira, and the rest of the task force for Misa… just say the word," she said.

"Rem, let me ask you: how short is Misa's lifespan now?"

_(Rule XVIII: The gods of death must not tell humans the names or life spans of individuals he sees. This is to avoid confusion in the human world.)_

It was hard looking for traces of human emotion in her face, but there was an aura of sadness and terrible unease around her. After a long silence, she answered, "I can't tell you that."

"I see, it's very short… then, Rem, I'm afraid it's too risky," said Mello. With a scowl on his face, he explained, "If you killed Ryuzaki or Kira, you might be extending Misa's lifespan. You would die before you can write down everyone's names in the Death Note. Those who would be left will have enough to say that we are responsible for these deaths. That would be enough of a weapon against Misa, and in turn, against me—Near would get me, Matt might find out that you're dead and kill Misa. We'd both lose."

Rem looked at him. Her fangs glinted in the darkness of his room.

"Rem, leave it to me. Don't break the rules. I don't want any more risks than there are already," said Mello. He took out the Death Note from inside his coat and flipped through the rules.

_(Rule IV: Gods of death, the original owners of the Death Note, do not do, in principle, anything which will help or prevent the deaths in the note.)_

"Anyway, Misa lent me her notebook after 'giving up ownership,' right? I bet Matt already found out that it's missing from your little hiding place in the forest."

Rem nodded. "He knows that he can't kill Misa because I'll kill him if that happens."

I tore a piece of the Death Note and gave it to Rem. She took it in her bony fingers. "Go back to Misa. Put this into her underwear while she's bathing or dressing up or something, but do it discreetly. Be careful about the cameras. You'll have to find me somewhere else if you need to," said Mello.

As he watched her disappear into the wall, he thought, _So, even shinigami act stupidly because of love. However, I can't believe that I'm trying to save this shinigami and that girl… the things I do to beat L._

* * *

Mello stared at his photo. With a backdrop of trees and golden sunlight, his image smiled awkwardly back at him. This was him, only a little over a year ago. Besides his height and taste in clothes, nothing much has changed.

_Damn. So my scar was for nothing, _he thought in irritation.

_Why did Near go through all the trouble of giving this picture to me? _

_No, that was a ruse. He probably knows about me and second Kira. That was all he wanted to say to me— "Even if I didn't return your photograph, you wouldn't have been killed by those who only needed a face to kill." _

_… that little bastard, _thought Mello. _He even had the gall to bring one of his assistants with him. He's not keeping his actions a secret from me. _

But he knew that Near was also telling him something else. Near didn't answer his question when he asked, "Do you think I'm Kira?" He kept his answers purposefully vague, which meant that Near was also sure that Matt was Kira.

_So… Near, all you're telling me is that whoever gets Kira first is a race. _

Mello smiled.

_That will be me. I'll kill Matt first, and then I'll kill you and L. And I'll rule the world with the Death Note… as Kira and L. _

The greatest victory.

* * *

During a blank period, something unexpected happened.

Amane Misa was kidnapped by an unknown man. Mello had guessed that it was one of her stalkers who did it.

Rem died that day. Mello had guessed that Misa would have died in an accident if the shinigami hadn't killed the stalker with the Death Note. However, now that she was gone, Matt, who was conveniently in the same place, had taken the Death Note…

He knew this from Misa, who appeared in front of Mello that day. Thanks to serious injuries, she was bleeding everywhere, and Mello had no choice but to let her in. But she assured him that she wouldn't die—the rules of the Death Note wouldn't allow it. She also told him that she wasn't being manipulated by Matt's Death Note.

"Prove it," said Mello, as he quietly tended to her injuries.

With a quivering lower lip, she reached inside her shirt and pulled out a piece of paper. She passed it on to him. He read:

_Amane Misa__  
Suicide  
__14 February 2006  
Throws self into Tokyo Bay and drowns to death_

_The 23-day rule, _thought Mello. _And this is definitely the piece that I gave to Rem… _

"I… I didn't have a pen with me… I wrote it with my blood as I ran away," she sobbed. "It was the only thing I could think… Rem is d-dead… Kira will want to kill me with his Death Note… I didn't want Kira to m-manipulate me into h-h-having Mello killed… I'd rather destroy myself!"

_... I see. _Mello stood up. "Misa. I'd like you to give up ownership of the notebook now."

Her mouth formed into a shocked 'o'. "Why? Don't you want me to kill Kira, L, and Near for you?" she asked with a shaky voice.

Mello shook his head. "We have to make Kira believe that he killed you. If not, then it will take longer before he would allow for a confrontation. You have to go into hiding now, Misa, you'll have to give me the notebook so I can kill them myself."

_At least I don't have to worry about killing you afterwards. I can rule the world with the notes. _

Misa wept. "No! If I do that, I'll be worthless to Mello! I won't give up the notebook! You can't make me!"

Mello sighed. "Fine… you'll give it up sometime, Misa. Believe me. I'm sorry, but I'll have to leave you in this place. Don't worry, you won't be found by anyone here, unless you go out and show yourself. I'll be taking the notebook with me."

"B… but..!!"

"No. You have 23 days left, Misa. Remember that."

She tried to suppress her sobs.

Seeing this, Mello tried desperately to soften his gaze. It was a challenge, yes. Even more so was the reassuring tone that his voice carried as he spoke,"… don't worry. I'll be back to look after you after it's all over. So don't go out, okay?" With that, Mello left the room, never to return.

* * *

Days later, a rather bored and depressed Misa desperately tried to forget that she was going to die after a couple of weeks, and that Mello probably wouldn't see her again. She turned to her one remaining cell phone for entertainment (i.e., the one she kept closest to her body, and only turned on during emergencies). She had taken out the SIM card so that it would be difficult to trace where she was, but this meant that she had nothing else to do but to look at her old files.

She had listened to each and every ringing tone stored in the phone and felt that she could hum them perfectly. It probably meant that she listened to them too much.

She senselessly hummed the Nokia tune as she went to her pictures folder. She was obedient and didn't take any pictures of Matt or Mello with this phone. All that was there were two-year-old pictures of her and her friends.

"Ah… here we are in the Tokyo Tower…" Upon focusing on a specific face, her eyes widened. "Oh, no… Kiyomi-chan…"

Misa couldn't see Kiyomi's lifespan.

Throwing caution to the wind, she immediately pulled her phone apart, put the SIM card in place, and called Mello.

She had told him of what she saw. _She must be one of Kira's pawns… Kira must have many more weapons at his disposal… I have to give up ownership of the note to you, Mello. You need the powers now more than ever. _

He was silent for a long time before he said, "I am the only one who can do it". And then the transmission was disconnected.

Misa crossed herself and grasped a small, metal crucifix hanging from her neck, the way that she saw Mello do countless times during their journey. She prayed that Mello somehow get the shinigami eyes for himself, even without the aid of the shinigami.

And then, she gave up ownership of the notebook.

* * *

_"Victory is mine, L." _

_All eyes turned to Matt as the 40__th__ second passed. What... did he just say?  
_

_Nothing happened. _

_Even after the entire minute passed, no-one was dying of a heart attack. "… what's going on?" stammered one of the members of the Japanese Task Force. "No one's… dead…" _

_"G-God?!" Mikami looked at the notebook, and then up at Matt, who lost the cocky smile on his face. "I wrote down their names like you told me… God… I only did what you told me!!" _

_Lester and Giovanni from the SPK took Mikami and cuffed his hands behind his back. Because he was so flustered, X-Kira didn't have a chance to put up a fight. The killer notebook, which once had an aura of power around it, fell helplessly on the floor. _

What's going on?

_Near picked up the notebook, opened it to the last page with writing on it, and said, "Everyone, please take a look at this."_

_On the page was a short list of names. _

Mihael Keehl Nate River Yagami Light Stephen Loud Anthony Carter Halle Bullock Kanzo Mogi Matsuda Tota Yagami Souichirou Aizawa Suuichi Ide Hideki Misora Naomi

_"Everyone, confirm for yourselves that your true names are listed in the Death Note. I can tell you that my true name—Nate River—is part of the list, as are the true names of the members of the SPK. If you'll notice, there is one name missing from here… I wonder whose name it could be…?" _

_"That's you, isn't it, Matt?" Near pointed at Matt, whose face was contorted into a snarl._

_ "Mikami was definitely calling you God, and said that he did as you told him to. You also said _Victory is mine _at the last moment; that's as good as a confession. This is undeniable proof that you are Kira." _

_- Chapter 12 end - _

_Notes: Omoidoori! Omoidoori! I felt so much like canon Light when I uploaded the last chapter. Oh my gosh. It's ridiculous, really. I was giggling when I read the reviews and notes. I'm really sorry, but I realize now why L lies and Aiber cons and Light and Near screws with everyone's heads. It's so darn exciting! :D  
_

_Please hang around for the last chapters. __It's obvious that there's a final twist, but how? How? How? __Unfortunately, it will take me longer to post them since I'll be beaching, yeah! But I'll be posting the "Final Tricks and Death" chapter, as well as the epilogue, at the same time. :)  
_


	13. 13: Curtain

**I Have the Right to Destroy **

_Chapter 13: Curtain _

_(Matt) _

I passed the Death Note to Mikami, but I was clear with my instructions: _Do the first judgments. Find your own successor after a few days. This person will be doing Kira's judgments, but make sure that it seems to the outsiders like you are the one writing in the Death Note._

From the beginning, it never Mikami who was Kira's successor, but Takada Kiyomi, his girlfriend. I trusted Mikami's judgment on this; he would never trust the judgments to somebody who was stupid enough to be blinded by self-interest, or who was loud and flashy with Kira's power.

Takada was perfect—she was intelligent enough that she understood all of the rules of the Death Note within a short period of time. She and Mikami agreed that he would keep the true notebook in a safe in the bank, give her four sheets of the Death Note every Friday through an anonymous letter, and they would synchronize writing into the pieces of the Death Note and Mikami's fake notebook. To become the most efficient weapon, she also voluntarily made the eyeball deal with Ryuk.

I knew that following Mikami's declaration to Sakura TV, he was being followed by one of Near's goons. I let them take a peek at the Death Note—let them believe that they had the upper hand.

They were most likely plotting to switch notebooks for today's confrontation. A few days before the rematch, the fake notebook was confirmed, they had switched Mikami's fake notebook with another fake one.

Today was supposed to be the only day that Mikami takes out the real notebook from the safe in the bank. By this time, he would have gotten the ownership of the notebook from Takada, and he would have had the shinigami eyes for himself.

"_When you get here, watch out for the life spans. At the last moment, I will give up ownership of the notebook. After you confirm it, kill the person called L first, and then the impostor who has the power to kill me, and then the traitor who worked for L all along. After that, kill all of them, even though the others' deaths do not matter. The death of those three will be the victory of Kira."_

_Just as planned._

I knew that Mello was with Second Kira all along. I knew that after I killed Misa, he would be the legitimate owner of the notebook. Therefore, it wouldn't be enough that Mikami watched out for the only person without the lifespan; he had to watch out for the person whose lifespan appears from thin air. Yes, I saw _that _far ahead. I had the notebook in a cloth wrapped around my torso, much like a corset, so that I wouldn't lose my memories of the notebook if I gave up ownership.

The plan was perfect. I knew that they knew. I just had to play dumb until the last moment, when they would all drop dead on the ground.

And then… Kira would rule the new world.

* * *

So what the fuck was going on here?

I was sure! I was so damned sure!

I glanced at the name list. _Mihael Keehl _was the first name; definitely not L's. Mikami… did you not follow my instructions? No, it must be a mistake. "L… I definitely don't see anybody that could be L's name in that list! That's it… I was framed by L! He is the one responsible for everything!"

This time, Mikami was the one who screamed. "NO! God! We killed L for you! Takada used her eyes to see his name! It's been days now… L is not here! They're hiding his corpse!"

"What are you talking about…?" Why did I not know about this? I told you not to do anything until today!

No, there was no way for any of us to contact each other… only he and Takada could have discussed this stupidity amongst themselves. Shit. I should have known that they would break the rules like this, if they had the chance. I overestimated their intelligence.

Even Mello, who was stunned into silence upon seeing his own name in the notebook, looked to Near for an explanation.

In response to this mania, Near smiled. "Ah… I thought that you two would have learned it by now. I'm great at lying."

At this point, "L" stood up straight and took off his black wig. Underneath was shorter and more manageable light brown hair.

"Matt, Mello, let me introduce you to one of my subordinates, Light Yagami."

All I could do was stare at him in disbelief. The impostor narrowed his eyes a bit, and already it was obvious that he was faking the wide-eyes. His eye bags were now obviously drawn with black eyeliner. It was apparent now that he was Japanese.

That little bastard, Near, took advantage of the fact that I've never seen L in person before… but why would they lie about this?! Is L that much of a coward to keep on hiding from all of us?

"See?! God, I told you we killed L… so I wrote down the name of the one with the power to kill you first! Just like you said!" cried Mikami. Froth was forming at the sides of his mouth.

Near shook his head. With his usual annoying gaze, he said, "Mikami-san. I'm afraid that you're very mistaken… and that your unguided actions might have cost Kira this battle. It is thanks to L that we have defeated you."

_So… that's it… _It only took me a few seconds to figure out how I was outsmarted by Near. At that moment, I realized that Mikami wasn't as perfect as I had previously assumed him to be.

They used L as bait to find out where the true Death Note was.

Takada… she had the eyes, but something must have prevented her from writing the name by herself… How did L figure out that she was more than Mikami's girlfriend? Why would she be placed under extreme suspicion?

Damn it. I should have never told them that L was my greatest enemy. I should have never admitted the fact that I was in a position where I couldn't move…

"I KILLED L LAWLIET WITH THE DEATH NOTE!" yelled Mikami. Against the storm, his declaration sounded chilly. Senseless. Stupid. Near's goons put more force to restrain him.

"No… you didn't. You could have, but your timing was way off."

A foreign voice arose from the darkness.

I turned warily to the darkness. A figure, clothed in white, walked slowly towards the circle of light in the middle of the warehouse.

"Matt… Mello… it's been years since I last saw you through that camera in Whammy's House…"

His face was bathed in light. Unruly, dark hair. Deep eye bags. Pale skin. Dead eyes. The tired look of somebody who hasn't slept a wink in decades.

He faced me. A smile that couldn't be described as anything else but _proud _was on his lips. Was he proud of showing himself in person, or was he proud that he finally saw me without the TV screens? Without the costumes? Without the power of Kira?

Or... could he have been proud of me?

Without frills or distortions, he told me, "Kira. This is the first time we meet. I am L."

* * *

_(Mello) _

Fuck. _River _is Near's name. Who would have thought? But at that time, I couldn't worry about it too much.

I stared at this new person who called himself L.

Yes… there's no doubt in my mind, like before, with Light Yagami. For once in his life, this person L is not lying. He's escaped death by the Death Note. There is no reason for him to hide.

After introducing himself to Kira, he turned to me. "Ah, here's Mello… alias, _Shishiosu. _That's how you spelled _Theseus _in Katakana, right? Though, I am not sure whether you were right in spelling it that way. Haha… it's not important right now, is it? I'm just impressed that you managed to fool us for a period of time… At one point, I thought that you were a greater threat than Kira, because by killing those innocent people in such creative ways, you definitely got more violent than the killer in this story. And extreme violence was never Kira's thing, so to speak."

He tilted his head at me. He looked like he was pondering my expression. What would he have said? I didn't even know what I was feeling at that time. His conclusions were so accurate that my head spun, and a slight nausea rose from the pit of my stomach.

"Funny, isn't it? It was fortunate that I didn't show myself to Amane, or else you would have beaten even Kira," he added.

I couldn't say anything to that.

He turned to Matt and said, "I'm amazed by your performance as well, Matt. You have fooled countries, entire populations, into believing that you are all powerful and all just. You proved to me that you indeed had potential to become my successor."

"Shut the fuck up, L," growled Matt. His mouth was distorted into strange shapes. His eyes were livid and manic, and even then we weren't shown the full intensity behind his goggles. I had never seen him so full of hatred before.

L looked back at him without expression. However, he didn't shut up. Not yet. "I know what you must be thinking, Matt… no-one escapes death from the Death Note. That's rule number one, isn't it? _The human whose name is written in this note shall die." _

Matt closed his mouth and watched him, with the calmest face he can muster. _Go on then, _he seemed to say.

I wanted to know what was up, too. _Is L going to admit that he's already dead? Or that he's actually a death god? _

No. He rummaged through his pockets for a few seconds and produced a scrap of paper the size of an origami paper. He held it out for each and every one of us to read. From my place in the corner of the warehouse, I barely read what was written there:

_L Lawliet  
__Heart Attack  
18-02-06. 17:59 PM _

"I defeated you by following the rules," he said.

So all he admitted to was being human.

Matt's goggles flashed as he stared at the note. How could L have gotten his hands on a piece of the Death Note? Is this a joke? No, Mikami seemed sure that days before, he wrote L's name into the true notebook.

There's no other explanation, except that L committed suicide to avoid being killed.

"H… how did you find that? It's Takada, isn't it? She… she betrayed me! She betrayed God!" Mikami seemed at the point of dying moments ago, but now he was flailing with full force again.

L shook his head. "Takada-san was actually good at doing her job. On the surface, she seemed to be the most obvious one to become Mikami's right hand, but who would think that a person who acted as simple and straightforward as her would be Kira? She dodged suspicion by acting more… _average _than she is. No-one would think that she has the capability of being Kira's successor.

"However, something about her _innocence _threw me off… this, coupled with the fact that Mikami seemed to be letting the SPK spy on him so easily, made me think that the chances of her being involved in the Kira affair were rather high… I think, a little bit less than five percent."

That's not very high. But that's L for you.

"I let Near spy on Mikami, but I never told him of my suspicions and surveillance of Takada. It was hard to determine how she was killing without the notebook, but it was easy to determine the schedules of her killing. It was a hunch on my part that she somehow obtained _pieces of the notebook, _and that these were as good as the Death Note. So… I asked my spy to steal those last few pieces."

"… her wallet…" mumbled Mikami.

Matt winced upon hearing it. I guessed what he was thinking: _I was defeated because somebody stole Takada's wallet. _

His face expressionless as ever, L continued: "I let Wedy show her face to Takada just before she got away on her motorcycle. And then, I told her to write down her name immediately into the piece of the note, and write down the same conditions of the death as this." He gestured to his own death note. "This was to ensure that she wouldn't be killed or manipulated by Takada, and that she can also fool her into thinking that she died.

"After ensuring that Wedy didn't die immediately of a heart attack, I took my chances and wrote down my name onto one of the pieces that she gave me. After that, the chances of me being safe from death by Death Note were up by fifty percent. I showed myself to Takada, which gave her a chance to obtain my name and face.

"She couldn't move anymore—she wisely thought at that moment that she was already being watched by L. She knew, however, that Mikami was the one who can move the freest, and so left the killing up to him. That was her mistake.

"That was all we needed, Matt… or should I say, Kira. Your minions' loyalty, and your abnormal desire to have me killed… they would ultimately turn against you."

L's face looked strangely hollow as he recited all of these to Kira. I tried to imagine what went on in L's mind. Could he have been thinking of his own death? Or was he blaming himself for all the gravity—that none of us would have thought of destroying, if only we were raised by Whammy's House differently?

No… this is the first time I've seen L, but I'm sure that it is not like him to think these things. All he was doing was solving the puzzle.

L looked back at the piece of paper in his hand and flipped it over and over with his fingers. "I had my doubts until now whether this piece is genuine, actually. What if Mikami had written in more into the Death Note, and I was merely being manipulated up until today? However… from the moment that you entered the warehouse, Matt, we knew that everything went _just as planned._"

His eyes widened and he looked to the blank space beside him.

Near nodded. From inside his shirt, he took out the true Death Note and presented it to Matt. "You guessed it right, Kira. We all saw the shinigami flying beside you, from the moment that you went into the warehouse."

A shinigami… That must be Ryuk. I've never touched any of his Death Notes. I wondered whether the shinigami was as surprised as I was.

Matt was silent for a long time. He was at the centre of the circle of light. His head was bowed down, and his face was covered with shadows. It was hard to tell what was going on with him.

Without warning, Matt raised his head. His eyes seemed to flash behind his goggles. He had on his face a manic grin, which he held for what seemed like hours before he broke into depraved laughter.

No-one moved. Everybody watched him in stunned silence. No-one seemed to want to breathe, except for Near and L, who looked strangely comfortable in their places. Hell, that creepy laughter was enough to send shivers down my spine. It was terrifying, looking at him, but we were trapped in his mania.

It was a long time before he stopped; his voice seemed strained when he started gasping for breath.

"_Yes… that's right… I am Kira." _

He raised his hands, fingers outstretched to capture the light from the ceiling. He could be imitating Christ. All I felt there was pure evil. As I stared at him, his voice got blurrier and blurrier. All I was feeling was the insanity of his declarations.

_So now what? Are you going to kill me right here?_

_Listen:… _he said, as if the light on his hands came from within himself. _I am Kira. And… the god of the new world. _

_The world is evil, L. You may think that you're helping just because you're solving cases. But remember what you told me when I asked you why you're taking on those cases? All you told us was you "liked solving puzzles. It is my hobby". How can the world change with that thought process, L?! You're corrupt, as the rest of the world is corrupt. _

_That's right… you're as evil as the rest of them. _

_L is evil, and L has to be destroyed. _

_Only I could have done it… I have the right to destroy everything that needs to be destroyed… with this notebook, _he gestured towards the notebook in front of Near. _I cleansed society, didn't I? The statistics do not lie, L. Crime rates decreased, and more and more people believed in what I can do. I was doing the world favours that your detective work could never do!_

_Kira is god, and L is nothing but the final fucking boss. The hero has to kill you at one point, L, or else the world will stay evil. You have to admit it. That's why you can't kill me. _

When I heard those words, I zoomed back into reality. Suddenly, I realized that Matt…

Matt, you're just a loser… you're just like L! He's not the 'final fucking boss,' (as an otaku like you would put it)! You are!

I smiled. Now was my time to step into the circle of light.

* * *

_(Near) _

Matt went mad. That's the only explanation for it.

"No… you are just a murderer. And this notebook is the worst murder weapon in the history of mankind."

I didn't care that Matt wasn't talking to me. I took the Kira finger puppet and crushed it between two fingers. He seemed to flinch as I destroyed it.

I then took the notebook in my hands and surfed through the pages. I saw the page that he used to kill Watari, which in turn started this chase. "But Matt. You're just making excuses, with all that talk about 'cleansing the world'. Don't make me laugh! From the beginning, all you wanted was to beat L, Mello and I! Killing so many criminals just to become number one… what, did you think that this was a videogame? The person who comes out alive is the one who wins? I think that's a bit more _twisted _than killing the criminals out of principle."

Matt laughed again. "What? We talked about it before, Near. L is a trophy, and we're all in a race to grab that title. So don't you go looking down on me, you white-haired freak! You're here right now to win. Don't deny it."

This guy… how annoying. He's the loser in the game, and he still has the gall to talk like that to me.

"So… game over. No more lifes or continues for Kira, hurray hurray. Near, you have the Death Note, right? L, you have that piece with you? Come on… I have my face right here, see? I'll even take off my goggles for you." He pulled his goggles up like a headband. His unremarkable brown eyes exposed themselves for everyone to see. "Hah. See if you have the guts to kill me now, if you think I'm that dangerous!"

Of course I won't do that. It's against my rules to use the Death Note, after all. I'm sure that L feels the same way, even though he ended up using it against himself to help me out in my investigation.

(Besides… even if I wanted to, I didn't know Matt's true name. Damn it.)

"Ha ha ha… so you're just gonna throw me in jail, after all… maybe I'll get the death penalty, huh?" He shrugged and flashed a saner grin towards all of us. It's just like his smile back in Whammy's House, when he and Mello played tricks on me. "That has to suck. I mean, I'm definitely not as straight-laced as this Yagami guy over here. You know I'll find a way to escape from the law. I've been doing it for over a year now!"

The nerve of this guy, announcing that he knew how to escape from jail before a horde of police officers. I stared up at the shinigami, who seemed a little bit more excited upon the prospect of escape. Hm.

"You know who else isn't straight-laced, Matt?"

We all turned to Mello, who held a notebook of his own, for some reason. He was holding it open. He faced one of the pages towards us.

My eyes widened when I saw what was written there:

_Mail Jeevas__  
Heart Attack  
12__th__ February 2006, 14:00 _

He smirked proudly as he faced Matt. "I had counted on this, just in case Mikami got confused as to who the real Kira is, and who the true _god of the new world _is… well, no matter. You're gonna die anyway, Matt. You have precisely five minutes."

"You… fucker!"

I snapped my head towards Matt. He suddenly had his back turned away from us.

"Somebody, stop him! He's got a piece of the Death Note with him!"

I didn't recognize the person who screamed, but suddenly, all guns were trained towards Matt and started firing.

Fighting for presence of mind, I called out, "Ridner! Capture Mello!"

Ridner rushed to Mello and struggled to cuff his wrists. When she succeeded, the Death Note dropped on the floor.

Matt dodged most of the bullets. Some of them nicked him at the shoulder. Finally, somebody hit his hand, and he dropped his pen and the piece of the note.

Without further delay, Aizawa and Mogi from the Japanese Task Force grabbed Matt from the floor and cuffed his bloody wrists.

All these happened under three seconds. I closed my eyes to quell my confusion and said calmly, but shakily, "Commander… please pick up the piece of the Death Note."

Silently, all of us watched as Lester slowly walked towards where the small piece of the note lay. He picked it up, read the note, and silently handed it to me.

I read the note for myself. For some reason, once the words registered with me, a numbness took over my body and my mind.

Wordlessly, I struggled to face Mello and showed him the note:

_Mihael Keehl _

_Nate R_

Mello's face contorted in anger. "The fuck, Matt?!"

Matt laughed maniacally at his reaction. "What, Mello? You honestly think that I lasted this long without extra equips and back-up plans? I have pieces of the notebook in my watch, in my goggles, in a secret compartment in my sneakers…"

Mello was out of sorts. Ridner had a difficult time holding him in place. It was no good saying anything else; he was cornered. "You're fucking insane, Matt, I can't believe that you wrote down my name!"

"Hell, if I'm gonna die, I'm gonna take you with me!" Matt was cornered too, but somehow he found no reason to struggle anymore. A maddening glint was in his eyes as he faced me and said, "Hell, even L is coming with me... We're all gonna die eventually, Near! Wanna join in the fucking fun? I can do it for you… it's only four letters away… and I have the entire four minutes remaining in my fucking life to write it all down!"

I looked at him, shook my head, and turned to L. The look on his face was indescribable.

Twenty seconds later, Mello's death began. Five seconds of agonizing screaming and twitching. And then, just like that, he was gone. The usual fire in his eyes was replaced by a layer of impenetrable glass. During the death, all Matt did was laugh. It was such a bitter-sounding laugh that I wondered what exactly he was laughing at.

Some time later, without another word, Matt died from a heart attack.

Seeing the death of his so-called god, Teru Mikami killed himself by stabbing the point of his fountain pen through his lung.

For the rest of us, unbearable silence followed.

My world went dim. I vaguely felt myself hitting the ground, and I never heard anybody from the warehouse call out my name.

* * *

_(Kira) _

So…

This is nothingness.

_- Chapter 13 end - _

_Notes: Well, that's the end of the mystery, but not quite the story! Haha! Congratulations for those who guessed Kira's identity from the beginning, and thank you very much to everyone for reading up to this point. _

_Please stick around for the epilogue! _


	14. 14: New World

**I Have the Right to Destroy **

_Chapter 14: New World _

"Ku ku ku… ah, my human died, and now I have nowhere else to go."

Near was on a hospital bed, and in front of him was a death god, carrying a basket of apples with a Gundam standing among them. He wondered about the effects of the sedatives they injected into him, and whether this beast dressed like a glam rock star was real or not.

Ignoring the possibility of illusions, he answered, "You could go back to your world, right, Mr. Ryuk? That's your name, isn't it? That's what Halle told me…"

"Eh? Back to the shinigami realm? Ku ku. You have no idea how boring it is down there. All we do there is gamble and eat rotten apples."

"Don't tell me you want another human to use your notebook… that isn't going to happen. I made sure that the SPK burned all the true notebooks and the stray pieces of it. No-one should use the Death Notes again."

"Hey, I'm not saying anything like that… I only have my own notebook now. I guess Shidoh will just have to ask the King for a new one. Ku ku ku… oh, by the way, I'll hand you this Gundam if you give me all the apples."

Near tilted his head in curiosity. "Go ahead then, Mr. Ryuk."

The shinigami handed the Gundam to Near and proceeded throwing in the apples in his mouth.

"Say… how come you fainted back there, kid? I was a bit surprised by that. I thought you were a lot more steady than your friend Matt," he said.

Near looked out the window rather dully. It was obvious to Ryuk though, who was way older than this boy, that he was just feigning neutrality. "… just an anxiety attack. It will never happen again," he muttered.

"Well, if you say so."

Near watched him finish all the apples. With that rare hesitation in his voice, he told Ryuk, "Listen… if you're bored, I can ask Lester to buy you some videogames that you can take to your world…"

"Really?" Ryuk laughed at him again. His mouth hung open with a vague sort of expression.

Near blinked. This was a rare moment in time, indeed: he felt awkward and clueless about what he should say next. Needless to say, nobody warned him in any of his fifteen years of life that he would be talking to a god of death about videogames for no other reason than gratitude.

_Wait, is gratitude the right word for this?_

When he noticed that the human wasn't going to say anything, Ryuk moved his wings in a weird way—maybe he shrugged. "Yeah, kid, I'd like that. Matt wasn't able to play as much as he wanted to when I appeared in his life, you know. Maybe now I can play all those games he missed for him."

_Honour, I guess. Maybe that's the right word.  
_

"So it's all right for death gods to play videogames?"

"I suppose so. There are a lot of things that death gods can do that they don't know for themselves," said Ryuk. He popped another apple in his mouth. "Hey… I just thought of this, but you wouldn't mind if I went to the human world every now and then to recharge the batteries, eh? There's no electricity in the death gods' realm, you know."

"Of course not, Mr. Ryuk. I'd say it would be pretty cool if you came every now and then."

"Then I'll count on you, Near. Ku ku ku." Ryuk ate the last apple, and suddenly, he disappeared from plain sight.

Strangely enough, Near found this disappearance completely… _natural. _Well, maybe. Yeah. It had to be natural, because the next moment, he was wondering about the crude nature of videogames and the chocolate that Giovanni and Ridner promised to bring him during visiting hours.

* * *

Five days later, Near was out of the hospital. He convinced Lester to let him go to Ryuzaki's tower all by himself. It was officially Near's first time to take a cab on his own, as well as to use an elevator all by himself.

It excited him to some extent. He felt a bit ashamed of such a childish tendency. But come to think of it, he shouldn't be embarrassed by such a trivial excitement. He was, after all, a fifteen-year-old boy who plays with plastic robots and battery operated ducks, wasn't he? He should forgive himself for being excited about riding an elevator all by himself, but somehow, he couldn't bring himself to do it.

He got off the twenty-third floor. It was a lobby-like place, air conditioned with sofas and lounge chairs and decorative plants and huge LCD screens playing music videos on mute. No lights were on; only the sharp orange bars of light from the afternoon sun lit the room. It was deserted, save for a blonde woman in a Chanel suit, stretched out barefoot on one of the big red couches.

"Hi there, sugar," she said, barely turning her head to acknowledge Near. It seemed that she was enjoying the Tokyo sunset from inside the building, where she had the luxury of eating small pink candies, smoking cigarettes, and drinking expensive red wine.

"Good afternoon," he replied. He'd never seen her before, but the blonde hair and sunglasses probably gave her identity away immediately. "You're Wedy, aren't you?"

She smiled at him in response. "Near, it's a pleasure to meet you. I heard about your hospitalization from L. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, thank you… where is L?"

She gestured outside the room. "He wants to enjoy the sunset outside. Don't worry, there's plenty of room. We didn't have the chance to use helicopters, you know."

Near nodded and padded his way outside.

When he opened the door, a strong breeze threatened to close the door again. He realized how high up he was from the ground.

It was pretty easy to find L. The older man was standing up a bit straighter than usual and was staring up at the sky, which was orange by now and was littered with low, feathery white clouds.

He looked briefly at Near, returned to his usual slouch, and stared up at the sky again.

After a long silence between them, L asked, "Do you hear them?"

"What?"

"The bells."

Near closed his eyes and focused on the sounds. All he heard were the gusts of wind, but apart from that, nothing else.

"I suppose you can't hear them… you were so young."

_I have no clue on what you're talking about, _thought Near. He knew that this was no time to be annoyed with L, but all the same, some irritation welled up in him.

L saw his facial expression and smiled. "It's not natural of you to come visit, Near. But thank you very much for doing so."

Near only looked back in response.

Again, L smiled. There was something different about it, Near mused. It wasn't the face that he had on when he got the better of you, or when he's finally got all the evidence to solve a particularly difficult case. It was a smile that didn't say anything important, or reasonable. It was just…

L. Smiling.

"So, what are you going to do now, Near?"

"The SPK has disbanded, and Yagami Light has decided to finish his college education first before applying for a position with the Japanese Police. I do not plan on any collaboration with them unless the situation calls for it. I'll probably start working on criminal cases on my own now."

"I see." L nodded. It was strange for Near to see him nodding so intently, as if he were truly interested in what he had to say. "What are you going to call yourself?"

Near shrugged. "Near is fine. Unless you think that there's something wrong with it."

"There's nothing wrong with it."

Silence. The shadows of a few diligent birds who found their way at the highest point of the building passed by vacantly.

"L… if I said that I was sorry that you're going to die…"

Still with that questionable smile on his face, L simply answered, "I won't believe you, Near."

Near didn't flinch. But… "Do you think I'm that heartless?"

"Of course not. But you enjoyed your victory, didn't you, Near?"

_I learned that you were going to die for me and everybody else that day. Those two died in front of me. I had an anxiety attack afterwards. I had to stay in the hospital overnight. You think I enjoyed it?_

"I guess you didn't. In any case, don't be sorry for me, Near. It was necessary. And I did it on my own. Kira wasn't the only one with the right to destroy, you know."

Near nodded curtly. "If you say so, L. I won't say anything."

17:56. The minutes passed by slowly.

"Near, a favour, please. Take Wedy's box of candies and bring them here."

Near did as he was told. It took precisely a minute for him to go back inside, take the box of candies, and walk with a rather bored Wedy back outside, where L sat on the ground, staring again at the sunset.

"L, last two minutes at life. What do you want to do?" asked Wedy.

He shrugged and held out his hand for the box of candies.

Near watched them quietly for these last few moments. Only the sugary, slurping noises from L and the sound of the wind filled the strangely calm air among them.

At exactly 17:59, both L Lawliet and Merrie Kenwood dropped dead on the ground. They died so calmly that Near wondered whether they really died from heart attacks or not.

_Goodbye, L. Sleep tight. _

Despite the warmth and moisture that he felt on his cheeks, Near's wide black eyes felt terribly dry, like his throat. They stung as the chilly wind blew past him.

* * *

Meanwhile, the world below sank further into the darkness.

Welcome to the new world.

_- Story end - _

_Notes: Thank you, thank you, thank you very much for reading this until the end! I hope you enjoyed the ending, abrupt as it is... I gotta put this story to sleep! Haha. _

_If you're interested, I'm writing a short how-to-read in my blog at brain-eater-jr. tabulas. com/content/pages/poser-htr/ Just get rid of the spaces. Again, thank you, and good night!_


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